tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-162918792024-03-13T00:01:29.397-04:00Mara-verse<em>For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin--real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. This persective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one.</em> (Souza)Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.comBlogger513125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-68983760346544994082010-04-17T12:21:00.004-04:002010-04-17T18:19:11.478-04:00Farmers' Market<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8ngbt2VMRI/AAAAAAAAC-A/nS4_1a9FO-o/s1600/DSCF0788.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461142789932003602" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8ngbt2VMRI/AAAAAAAAC-A/nS4_1a9FO-o/s320/DSCF0788.JPG" /></a> I wish we could get to the Farmers' Market before it gets so crowded and before the sun is so high. I just can't seem to get it together enough for us to be there before 9:30 or so. Robert needs to be fed, changed, dressed; the dog walked; the dog, cat, and chickens fed, before leaving the house. Since I am not going to wake the baby up any earlier than when he wakes up on his own, well, I guess we'll be fighting the crowds all summer. Sigh. Today I bought our strawberry plants. We've been outside all week, feels like. Yesterday I mowed 5/8 of our yard, moved the chicken coop and cleaned it out, and pounded the stakes for the inner chicken-fence. I don't think I mentioned this yet-- I'm putting in a little, 24" high chicken-wire fence on the inside of the garden beds to keep the chickens out while they're free-ranging. This after noon I finished the other 3/8 of the mowing (can't get it all done at once because it takes longer than how long Robert will sit happily in his stroller) and worked on the fence a little more. I love this time of year but it is exhausting, too. You ever notice how the old-timers you see working in their gardens are always skinny? I think this is why. <br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8ngbMT83pI/AAAAAAAAC94/mwNuR21VuJo/s1600/DSCF0785.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 213px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461142780929433234" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8ngbMT83pI/AAAAAAAAC94/mwNuR21VuJo/s320/DSCF0785.JPG" /></a> "I DO NOT LIKE THE HAT"... he seems to say. </div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-50730481428092475712010-04-13T11:21:00.002-04:002010-04-13T11:29:41.910-04:00Garden TourWhat's blooming in my <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">neighborhood</span>:<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8SM0oELVjI/AAAAAAAAC9A/2WgYu4cqIO8/s1600/DSCF0857.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459643484015908402" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8SM0oELVjI/AAAAAAAAC9A/2WgYu4cqIO8/s320/DSCF0857.JPG" /></a> Bleeding hearts. I love these. If I ever have a shady garden, they're high on my list. <br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8SM0f0vI9I/AAAAAAAAC84/1ptCIKCjz2k/s1600/DSCF0860.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459643481803662290" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8SM0f0vI9I/AAAAAAAAC84/1ptCIKCjz2k/s320/DSCF0860.JPG" /></a> Creeping phlox. It's planted like this all over my neighborhood, since so many houses have steep drops from yard to street. Most of the year it's just a nice, unobjectionable ground cover, but every spring it puts on a huge display. <br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8SM0KGpzOI/AAAAAAAAC8w/KJ8guP5uoMw/s1600/DSCF0740.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459643475973229794" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8SM0KGpzOI/AAAAAAAAC8w/KJ8guP5uoMw/s320/DSCF0740.JPG" /></a>And my all-time favorite tree, the Eastern R<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">edbud</span>. Also, the lilacs and dogwoods are in bloom. I love this time of year! <div> </div></div></div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com189tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-24947885277744479132010-04-12T16:35:00.003-04:002010-04-12T17:01:32.684-04:00What Don did this weekend<div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8OEpFj30yI/AAAAAAAAC7Q/sJPqKxbN6Os/s1600/DSCF0818.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459353014705312546" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8OEpFj30yI/AAAAAAAAC7Q/sJPqKxbN6Os/s320/DSCF0818.JPG" /></a>In order to finish the Retaining Wall in Ditch project, as well as finish filling the raised beds with topsoil, Don rented a tractor. Lucky I'm not the jealous type, because I think it was love at first sight. (I now pronounce you Man and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kubota</span>?) He spent the weekend moving dirt and building walls, grumbling something about <em>starting projects you can't finish <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">grr</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">grr</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">grr</span></em>, while Robert and I stayed in our nice, air-conditioned house and took pictures.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8OEo73eZnI/AAAAAAAAC7I/d0sMHXVLLfo/s1600/DSCF0801.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459353012103177842" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8OEo73eZnI/AAAAAAAAC7I/d0sMHXVLLfo/s320/DSCF0801.JPG" /></a>In this picture, he has either just conquered the gravel pile or is auditioning for a Captain Morgan commercial, I can't remember. Does he have a little captain in him? Why no, he is filled with Magic Hat!<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8OEoPdLkAI/AAAAAAAAC7A/oMo-zFO42w0/s1600/DSCF0849.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459353000181731330" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8OEoPdLkAI/AAAAAAAAC7A/oMo-zFO42w0/s320/DSCF0849.JPG" /></a> After his typical, seventy-hour workweek and two days laboring in the backyard, he re-built this raised bed for me. <em>I think he really does love me</em>. You can kind of see the arrangement of the two walls filling the ditch in this picture. We still need more <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">back-fill</span> behind the taller one, and each wall still needs the row of capstones that finishes it, but otherwise, mission accomplished. In between the two walls I'm going to plant strawberries, and the bed that Don is working on is going to be raspberries. I guess it's the fruity end of the yard. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>In other news, I cleared out the tiny closet, have the fridge half done, and other small accomplishments crossed off The List. Robert can suddenly hardly get enough to eat; I'm feeding him every few hours around the clock. Big people-food meals during the day, breastfeeding <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">in between</span> times, and he still wants to nurse several times during the night. He even ate the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">green beans</span> that he refused a few weeks ago. (Not the same ones, of course, but the other half of a two-pack.) I think he's going through a growth spurt. According to our scale, he is now 25.5 pounds. He understands the words for 'dragon' and 'dog', as in 'where's the ___?'; likes to imitate sounds, facial expression, and movements; and has started creeping along the furniture when he pulls himself up to standing. I guess it's a growth AND development spurt, really. At lunchtime I was blowing on each bite for him, and when I offered him a bite, he tried to blow on it too. SO cute. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 255px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 242px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459358432871724082" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S8OJkdzaNDI/AAAAAAAAC74/_YGjnb7POtg/s320/DSCF0770.JPG" /></div></div></div><br />...because it's not a blog post without the obligatory baby picture!Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-12386542645501064712010-04-09T12:05:00.002-04:002010-04-09T12:16:00.923-04:00Finally Something Finished<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S79Qt5s7_RI/AAAAAAAAC6Q/SRC_-hv55u0/s1600/DSCF0776.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458170022909967634" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S79Qt5s7_RI/AAAAAAAAC6Q/SRC_-hv55u0/s320/DSCF0776.JPG" /></a> My marathon cleaning isn't going quite as well as planned. I should be at least one-third done and I am not. Whine whine whine, it's <em><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">haaaard</span></em> to get anything done with a baby, bitch bitch bitch. I know. It's lazy. But I got the first item from the kitchen <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">sub-list</span>, "clean and organize hutch" done yesterday. I know it looks over-full, but this hutch serves as most of my pantry and a good bit of my counter space; it's never going to be spare and minimalist the way it would be in a catalogue. Among other things, it holds fourteen one-pound boxes of dried pasta. I'm not a hoarder, honestly! The store was having a buy-two-get-THREE-free sale on the brand I already buy. What would you do? (Correct answer: pay for four boxes, walk out with ten.) <br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S79Qtoo2aBI/AAAAAAAAC6I/Hk7dtMES1vs/s1600/DSCF0775.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 238px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458170018329421842" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S79Qtoo2aBI/AAAAAAAAC6I/Hk7dtMES1vs/s320/DSCF0775.JPG" /></a> Zoom-in on my 'Never Trust a Skinny Cook' sign, which I love but would love to invalidate by <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">reskinny-fying</span> myself... or at least losing seven pounds or so. Today I will get more things done. </div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-25657855890898428502010-04-05T12:02:00.003-04:002010-04-05T12:15:47.033-04:00First Time at the Park<div>I suppose the title says it all. There is a playground near our house, and yesterday we took Robert there for the first time. He is just barely big enough to use the little-kid swings. We actually went twice; just me, the dog and the baby in the morning, then all of us in the evening. This was partly because I knew Don would want to be a part of the Baby's First Swings experience, and partly because I was disappointed with the photos I'd taken in the morning. Time of day makes a huge difference sometimes: the top picture here was taken mid-morning, when the light was really bright and harsh. The others were taken at sunset.<br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456684886470618466" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7oJ_lVS7WI/AAAAAAAACsc/MWJs71g66BE/s320/DSCF0616.JPG" /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7oKAnb5g5I/AAAAAAAACss/Em64hC2xGW4/s1600/DSCF0676.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456684904215053202" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7oKAnb5g5I/AAAAAAAACss/Em64hC2xGW4/s320/DSCF0676.JPG" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7oKALMNfeI/AAAAAAAACsk/IygsA68t_cc/s1600/DSCF0658.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456684896633060834" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7oKALMNfeI/AAAAAAAACsk/IygsA68t_cc/s320/DSCF0658.JPG" /></a> Here, Don is playing I'm Going to Eat your Feet!, swing version. It's one of his favorites. We were kind of hoping that these people would invite us to their <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">barbecue</span>, the aroma of which was permeating the whole park, but no such luck. <br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7oMGLy-FcI/AAAAAAAACs0/SA1mIas65wI/s1600/DSCF0715.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456687198898099650" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7oMGLy-FcI/AAAAAAAACs0/SA1mIas65wI/s320/DSCF0715.JPG" /></a>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-37195163750385380492010-04-03T21:13:00.002-04:002010-04-03T21:22:46.400-04:00Me:<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7fo07eRnoI/AAAAAAAACmg/JmMoVvkAZNQ/s1600/DSCF0605.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456085469598162562" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7fo07eRnoI/AAAAAAAACmg/JmMoVvkAZNQ/s320/DSCF0605.JPG" /></a> ...with the baby on my back. In the background: compost heaps, chicken house and run, straw bales. I think we might be That House in our neighborhood. <br /><br />Don took several pictures, but apparently it is not possible for both of us to look at the camera simultaneously. Perhaps it violates a law of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">photographical</span> physics, I don't know. <br /><div> </div><div>Working on my marathon-list with varying degrees of success, but it's only the 3rd. We'll get there. </div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-18990320958959128332010-04-02T18:40:00.001-04:002010-04-02T18:49:07.382-04:00Which came first?<div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7Zz4KOI3VI/AAAAAAAACkI/dkyIwis-b1I/s1600/DSCF0595.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455675407259458898" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7Zz4KOI3VI/AAAAAAAACkI/dkyIwis-b1I/s320/DSCF0595.JPG" /></a> The girls have fun scratching in what will soon be the raspberry bed.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7Zz4eOhetI/AAAAAAAACkQ/5jtosOvUaDs/s1600/DSCF0320.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455675412629781202" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7Zz4eOhetI/AAAAAAAACkQ/5jtosOvUaDs/s320/DSCF0320.JPG" /></a> I could also call this, why we grow our own. Grocery store-egg to the left, backyard egg to the right. And these are supposedly the really good store eggs, cage-free and all that. There's just no comparison.</div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-72340324995166417212010-04-01T20:06:00.002-04:002010-04-01T20:12:42.437-04:00Today I:Mucked out the chicken house.<br />Did a sink-load of dishes.<br />Walked the baby and the dog to our coffee place.<br />Went to both the grocery store and Bed, Bath & Beyond (with baby, of course).<br />Folded and put away two loads of laundry (from yesterday).<br />Organized out-grown baby clothes, stored away.<br />Re-organized Robert's dresser.<br />Moved all my seedlings outside to take advantage of this warm sunshine.<br />Made dinner.<br /><br />I've been dealing with some fairly bad insomnia lately, and spent more time last night staring into space than actually sleeping. So the above may not sound like much, but considering the three-hours-of-sleep situation (multiplied by days and days now), it's pretty damn good. I'm trying to get outside, get things done, and avoid lounging around the house, in an effort to tire myself out.Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-44582650607636505252010-03-31T18:52:00.005-04:002010-04-13T13:21:35.439-04:00April Spring Clean MarathonThis is my to-do list for the month of April. It is essentially a deep clean, organization, and baby-proofing of the entire house. I realize that last month would have made more sense, what with the Official Last Date of Frost being April 28 in these parts (hence all of April being a gardening frenzy), but my time-turner is broken so, oh well. My reasons for wanting to do this are as follows: My mom, my sister, and my sister's boyfriend are coming in early May. My sister and her boyfriend are moving here (Yay!), and our mom is making the drive with them in order to help out (and to see us, of course, only grandchild and all that). They are both the kind of naturally tidy and organized people that probably secretly wonder how I'm from the same gene pool; the sort that, if they remove a sweater, hang it on a hanger or put it in the hamper, rather than dump it on the floor, which is what seems normal to me. Neither is judge-y, but I will feel much more comfortable knowing that the place is presentable through-and-through. The baby-proofing is obvious, what with having a crawling, pulling-up, mobile little monster rambling about the place, and is also to help my mom sleep more easily, knowing that our cabinets are latched, our outlets covered, and our carbon monoxide detected. Second, our Stuff is, once again, starting to grow larger than the available space. So, some things must be disposed of via the dump and Goodwill, and some better-organized and hidden away. Third, our little house only requires a big ol' cleaning every year or so (at least to my eyes, see above), so once I get this done, I can breathe easy and just do the usual mop-and-vacuum-and-dishes routine for the rest of the year. (The last one was shortly before I went into labor, so yep, about a year.) Since I plan on spending copious amounts of time this summer out in the garden, this thought makes me happy. With a better-organized, cleaner, and more child-safe space, everything will be easier once I'm through. So, what I will do is come back to this post every few days and edit to indicate what's been done. Obviously some of the things on the list will need to be done regularly, like scrubbing the stove, so those I mean specifically for right before everyone gets here. I'm actually hoping to finish several days before said family arrives, so I can cook and bake up a storm as is usual for me, rather than thinking about cobwebs. So here's the list:<br /><br /><strong>Laundry Room</strong><br />Empty shelves of everything random<br />Reorganize what's left<br />Move doors down to shed<br />Return top of washing machine to proper place<br />Scrub floor<br /><br /><strong>Kitchen<br /></strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">Clean and organize hutch shelves</span><br /><span style="color:#ff6600;">Ditto hutch drawers</span><br />Scrub fridge interior<br /><span style="color:#ff6600;">Scrub fridge exterior, including top<br /></span><span style="color:#ff6600;">Organize freezer<br /></span><span style="color:#ff6600;">Check liquor bottles for viability</span><br />Organize over-stove cabinet<br />Scrub stove top<br />Scrub oven door, knobs, broiler door etc.<br />Fix kitchen sink faucet<br />Scrub sink w/ baking soda<br />Polish kitchen window, inside and out<br />Organize three lower cabinets<br />Install baby locks ditto<br />Wash all cabinet door and drawer fronts, etc<br />Clear off table, find home for random table orphans<br />Scrub floor<br /><br /><strong>Bathroom</strong><br />Organize medicine cabinet<br />Organize under-sink cabinet<br />Scrub area around toilet<br />Polish window in and out<br />Polish mirror<br />Get Don to scrub tub<br />Replace shower curtain<br />Scrub floor<br />Floor mat into washing machine<br /><br /><strong>Study</strong><br /><span style="color:#ff6600;">Clear out and organize tiny closet</span><br />Clear out bookshelf<br />Move books to living room<br />Throw away many magazines<br />Clear desktop<br />Organize three desk drawers<br />Polish both windows<br />Bundle computer cords with wire ties, make inaccessible<br />Organize upper shelf of main closet<br /><br /><br /><strong>Hallway</strong><br /><span style="color:#ff6600;">Replace smoke detector</span><br /><span style="color:#ff6600;">Install carbon monoxide detector</span><br />Clean or replace air-filter cover<br /><br /><strong>Living Room</strong><br />Move ADT system box<br />Shift left-side bookcase<br />Check that bookcases are still attached to wall<br />Go to IKEA, get bottom doors for bookcases<br />Install said doors, add baby locks<br />Staple speaker cords to wall<br />Polish window, door window, and <span style="color:#ff6600;">screen door</span><br /><span style="color:#ff6600;">Buy new blinds for window<br /></span><span style="color:#ff6600;">Install blind-cord wind-upper thingie<br /></span><span style="color:#ff6600;">Ask next door about baby gate<br /></span>Vacuum sofa<br />Reorganize bookshelves<br /><br /><strong>Bedroom<br /></strong>Figure out how to reinstall closet door<br />Get rid of random electronics via Craigslist<br />Flip mattress<br />Replace pack'n'play with child mattress?<br /><span style="color:#ff6600;">Obtain more under-bed storage bags for baby clothes</span><br /><span style="color:#ff6600;">Transfer current storage things to closet top shelf<br /></span><span style="color:#ff6600;">Sort through baby clothes again, out-growns into new unit<br /></span><br /><strong>Overall</strong><br />Vacuum cobwebs from ceilings, door frames, etc<br />Dust everywhere, especially ceiling fans, light fixtures, etc<br /><br /><strong>Front Porch<br /></strong>Don's job.<br /><br /><strong>Random Errands</strong><br />IKEA: bookshelf doors, kiddie mattress, sheets to fit<br /><span style="color:#ff6600;">Lowe's: staples for staple gun, dowels for closet door, kitchen sink parts, new window blind, blind cord thing, more baby locks, smoke and CO detectors</span><br /><span style="color:#ff6600;">Bed, Bath & Beyond: under-bed units</span><br />Take truck-load of stuff from shed, laundry room, to the dump<br /><span style="color:#ff6600;">Take boxes to Goodwill</span><br /><br />There are approximately sixty things to do here, but naturally it will not be a two-things-per-day kind of project; more likely a bunch of stuff one day, and nothing the next. Some will obviously only take ten minutes, some just require equipment or supplies I don't have yet. My goal is to hit about three per day whenever I can. Wish me luck, energy, and a baby who wants to be in a backpack!Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-35841928543277559792010-03-29T16:26:00.000-04:002010-03-29T16:27:24.716-04:00My Crocuses are Blooming<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7ENFNUz69I/AAAAAAAACiw/yTmfR4x72dc/s1600/DSCF0581.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7ENFNUz69I/AAAAAAAACiw/yTmfR4x72dc/s320/DSCF0581.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454155006849838034" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7ENEhx16xI/AAAAAAAACio/KV7nWgvbzXA/s1600/DSCF0593.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7ENEhx16xI/AAAAAAAACio/KV7nWgvbzXA/s320/DSCF0593.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454154995160443666" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7ENEXLVaeI/AAAAAAAACig/Wgx0GVRzgYI/s1600/DSCF0587.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S7ENEXLVaeI/AAAAAAAACig/Wgx0GVRzgYI/s320/DSCF0587.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454154992314575330" /></a>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-9783563224147869322010-03-28T11:29:00.002-04:002010-03-28T12:08:54.200-04:00What else I've been up toBecause believe it or not, it's not just all baby, all the time. I have big gardening plans for this year, very exciting. <em>(To me.)</em> In what was last year's vegetable garden, we're putting in raspberries. It's a bed along the south edge of the backyard, about 18' long. Raspberries are pretty much my favorite fruit (hard to say as I love them all but definitely up there in the top five) and they're always expensive, even in season. I'm so excited about having my own! According to <em>The Garden Primer</em>, once they're established I can expect "up to a quart of berries per foot of row". Eighteen quarts of raspberries! Not this year, of course, but <em>still</em>. Along the back (eastern) edge of the yard, we've* built a raised bed that's about 35' long and 30" wide, that will be this year's vegetable garden. (Next year, I'll be planting asparagus there.) Nothing fancy, just the basics like tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, salad greens, herbs, and flowers. <em>Lots</em> of flowers. To decide what to plant, I thought about what we bought the most often or spent the most on at the Farmers' Market last summer; we were always buying salad greens, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">zukes</span>, and bouquets of flowers. So, in addition to edging both raised beds with <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">alyssum</span>, nasturtiums, and marigolds, I'm planting zinnias, cosmos, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">calendula</span>, ageratum, and sunflowers for cuttings. No more spending $7 for a handful of zinnias this summer**! Don built me a plant light so that I could start seeds inside for the first time. I'm starting all the flowers ahead, since they're expensive to buy as plants, and I wanted a lot of them. I plan to buy some plants still, especially tomatoes. My logic is that I only want about six tomato plants, but I don't want all six to be the same variety. So I could either buy 3-4 different seed packets and use maybe 2 seeds from each one, or just buy the plants themselves from the Farmers' Market and get all the variety I want, with no waste. Right now I have 144 seed cells started, two trays of 72 that I'm running alternately under the light. <br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S692G38YMXI/AAAAAAAAChI/l1Yo-tqzp5Q/s1600/DSCF0477.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453707534237446514" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S692G38YMXI/AAAAAAAAChI/l1Yo-tqzp5Q/s320/DSCF0477.JPG" /></a> This is the first tray, three days after planting. <br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S692GtuWdTI/AAAAAAAAChA/W97U_WNaZbg/s1600/DSCF0540.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453707531494257970" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S692GtuWdTI/AAAAAAAAChA/W97U_WNaZbg/s320/DSCF0540.JPG" /></a>And here it is after one week. At least a few of everything has sprouted so far, and they're growing fast. I had one little problem with the marigold seeds I ordered from Seeds of Change, as the website described this variety as growing 2-3" tall. Turned out to be a typo as they meant 2-3', which luckily was correct on the seed packet itself. Since I wanted to use them to edge my garden, I had to buy more seeds from Lowe's, and use these elsewhere. No big deal really, although I'm still kicking myself for believing that any marigold could be only three inches tall. (I sent them an email in case someone else makes the same error, and they wrote back saying they'd fix it.)<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S692HQNGHWI/AAAAAAAAChQ/4xhbn5PKOBQ/s1600/DSCF0420.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 517px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 191px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453707540750015842" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S692HQNGHWI/AAAAAAAAChQ/4xhbn5PKOBQ/s320/DSCF0420.JPG" /></a> The girls are doing wonderfully well, even after one of the snowiest winters in old-timer recollection. They seem to be perfectly healthy and happy, which reinforces the fact that chickens don't need much pampering to get by. Their house is unheated, and a bit airy (I was more worried about ventilation than insulation when we built it) but it's dry and out of the wind. I took this picture from the kitchen window, which is upstairs and many feet back from the backyard. I really like my new camera, and its 10X zoom feature. Gimpy Girl (to the far right) seems to have finally hit chicken sexual maturity, as her comb has grown larger and turned red, and she has laid at least two eggs. One was this tiny little thing, like a robin's egg but brown, but the other was a small-<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">ish</span> but normal chicken egg. The other day when I went to collect, there were four eggs nestled together, simple as that. She may have laid more than that, it's hard to tell since they all lay in the same place. We get anywhere from none to three, generally, with two being the median. </div><div> </div><div>If I keep on with the blogging, expect many more boring posts about gardens and chickens. </div><div> </div><div><em>*i.e. I design, Don builds to my specifications. Except when he doesn't, and I end up with something funky. Like the raspberry bed that's about 16" wider than I wanted, which is OK because I'll plant a row of onions in there too.</em> </div><div> </div><div><em>** Don't look too deeply into what the garden itself is costing... These things should be amortized over a few seasons anyway.</em> </div></div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-29304815453891963932010-03-27T17:01:00.002-04:002010-03-27T17:17:04.673-04:0010 Months Old Today<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S650JZh3_aI/AAAAAAAACgk/6bpviA3HcOo/s1600/DSCF0543.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453423903612861858" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S650JZh3_aI/AAAAAAAACgk/6bpviA3HcOo/s320/DSCF0543.JPG" /></a>Pretty cute, if I do say so myself. This is his "<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Oy</span>, enough with the camera already, paparazzi lady!" expression. It used to be so easy to take his picture... most of our early photos look like this one, from when he was about four weeks old:<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S650JM37zPI/AAAAAAAACgc/sXyDJJPI2E0/s1600/3679345921_8347acd7f6.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453423900215725298" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S650JM37zPI/AAAAAAAACgc/sXyDJJPI2E0/s320/3679345921_8347acd7f6.jpg" /></a> He slept a lot. And even when he was awake, he couldn't really move around but stayed where he was put. Of course, as he gained in mobility, he also developed a bit more expression; now, I get a lot of pictures like this one:<br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S650IqdHBII/AAAAAAAACgU/tS31sHvlSnc/s1600/DSCF0525.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453423890976408706" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S650IqdHBII/AAAAAAAACgU/tS31sHvlSnc/s320/DSCF0525.JPG" /></a> ... which wasn't cropped at all. "What's that? A camera? Let me see! Is it for tasting?" (He seems to say, as it all sounds like <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">AHHHHhhhh</span> to me.)<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S650ITfBKxI/AAAAAAAACgM/fJzRylK0fsk/s1600/DSCF0456.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453423884810398482" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S650ITfBKxI/AAAAAAAACgM/fJzRylK0fsk/s320/DSCF0456.JPG" /></a> All in all, I think he's a keeper. Only two months until he's a year old, who can believe it? </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size:78%;"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Arrgh</span> looking through his newborn pictures has me thinking about <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">teensy</span> tiny little newborn babies. Bad Mara. Stop that. </span></div></div></div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-40396767514865588942010-03-26T13:02:00.004-04:002010-03-26T13:31:10.432-04:00Baby FoodWe're feeding Robert a mix of store-bought baby food and homemade. Most of the homemade is just whatever we're eating, cooked down more and pureed. Easy, except that he's still scared of the food processor.<br /><br /><br /><p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S6zo6U5SIEI/AAAAAAAACZg/ztFB7hv125A/s1600/DSCF0421.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452989337577857090" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S6zo6U5SIEI/AAAAAAAACZg/ztFB7hv125A/s320/DSCF0421.JPG" /></a> Chicken and carrots cooking in scratch chicken broth. </p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S6zo8HWZPqI/AAAAAAAACZ4/0uFEr40iwTw/s1600/DSCF0465.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452989368301600418" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S6zo8HWZPqI/AAAAAAAACZ4/0uFEr40iwTw/s320/DSCF0465.JPG" /></a> Salmon and kale.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S6zo67SWHvI/AAAAAAAACZo/PswOp0a3xMk/s1600/DSCF0427.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452989347883523826" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S6zo67SWHvI/AAAAAAAACZo/PswOp0a3xMk/s320/DSCF0427.JPG" /></a> Portioned out for the freezer.<br /><div><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S6zo7k0vIPI/AAAAAAAACZw/_2kOkL3i_nw/s1600/DSCF0462.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452989359033622770" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S6zo7k0vIPI/AAAAAAAACZw/_2kOkL3i_nw/s320/DSCF0462.JPG" /></a> Sometimes, it's even simpler: his favorite food, cut up and saved for later.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S6zo8i5WndI/AAAAAAAACaA/GxIlW4l9SSY/s1600/DSCF0438.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452989375695986130" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S6zo8i5WndI/AAAAAAAACaA/GxIlW4l9SSY/s320/DSCF0438.JPG" /></a> <div>He approves mightily of the chicken blend. </div><div> </div><div></div><div>I also blend up a lot of fruits, and mix them into either his infant cereal or plain, whole-fat yogurt. Bananas or applesauce with blueberries or raspberries, stuff like that. They taste good enough to add to my own yogurt or oatmeal. Regarding the infant cereal (an organic, heavily fortified wheat/oat blend), I've got mixed feelings. His pediatrician recommended using it at "two or three of his meals" for the iron, while explaining that many infants (especially breastfed infants) start to have lower iron levels at this age. I personally don't think that grain cereals are a very desirable food at this age, since without the added vitamins, they don't have much going for them. I'd rather he be eating fruits and veggies; meat, fish, eggs; and a little dairy (I mean other than the mama-dairy, of which he still takes copiously.) Having oatmeal three times a day seems excessive, so I compromised and included it in one meal per day. Then the doctor called back with the results from his blood work* and his iron was perfectly satisfactory, and that was before he'd been having any kind of cereal or fortified foods so it seems he was getting plenty before. (I guess <em>my</em> diet is satisfactory, too.) By then I was seduced, though, because with this stuff you just add plain water and stir! So easy! But something he was eating was making him sort-of constipated. I say sort-of because it didn't seem to be causing him any discomfort, but he was pooping very hard golf balls every few days, which just didn't seem right. I nixed the yogurt, nothing. Nixed the cereal, it got a little better. Finally went on a 24-hour all-breastmilk fast, which got him pooping like a baby again, but left me exhausted. Geez but this kid can eat. Now we're going to slowly reintroduce the cereal to see if it creates rock-poop again.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>*This office checks iron levels and for the presence of lead as part of their nine-month routine. Robert turned up positive for lead (!) but that's another post. </div></div></div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-30544901222350866972010-03-25T14:03:00.002-04:002010-03-25T14:42:20.776-04:00I'm still here.<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S6uufBCnPAI/AAAAAAAACZY/iQSC16lnxLA/s1600/DSCF0497.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452643621740690434" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/S6uufBCnPAI/AAAAAAAACZY/iQSC16lnxLA/s320/DSCF0497.JPG" /></a><br /><div>So hey! Hi! It's only been like three months since I last posted anything here. That's not a long time or anything, no. Apparently, writing in a blog is like working out: the longer you go without doing it, the harder it is to just get up and do it. I guess there are many reasons for my long absence, including but not limited to Robert's short nap times, my own insomnia, a bout of depression somewhere in February, and the beginning of gardening season. Not that any of those are real excuses, of course. But they add up. It's not like I don't spend plenty of time on the computer; I do. But it's all little chunks: read a blog, play a game, update Facebook. Nothing that requires any real time, thought or energy. Often when I'm laying down with Robert, I'll think of things that I'd like to write, start drafting in my head, but when he's finally asleep... I don't know, I just don't. And I'm sorry about it, mainly because I think I'll regret having let a big chunk of my baby's first year gone undocumented. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>As always, his sleep is all over the map, but I think it's slowly, slowly starting to improve overall. His naps have sort of coalesced from many little sleeps into two long-ish sleeps, or at least into sandwich-style naps (i.e. he sleeps for twenty minutes and when he wakes, I nurse him or otherwise convince him to return to sleep, putting him down all over again.) We have an official bedtime routine now that goes dinner--bath--bed, hitting the bed part right around seven. Sometimes, he sleeps all evening and night, only waking to breastfeed. Other times, he bounces up at 8:30, wide awake. Or, worst of all, at 4:00am. But, as I said, it's ever-so-slowly getting better. I think the amount of people foods in his diet is helping, as is all the crawling. I've completely given up caffeinated coffee, which helped some, too. Plus maybe just getting older. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>He's crawling like crazy, can get from room to room no problem, gets into <em>everything</em>. When he's on a mission, he crawls very fast and makes this funny "eh-eh-eh" sound to himself. It's quite amusing but I haven't been able to capture it on video yet. He pulls himself up to standing. He waves hello-goodbye, says 'mama' (or 'mamba', depending), is still toothless, but has had a lot more hair come in. He has made the predictable shift from social butterfly to shy mama's boy. At his nine-month doctor visit, he was declared the picture of health, as well as still enormous-- 85th percentile for weight but off the chart still for length. He is wearing size 18-month onesies. He nurses maybe six times a day still, as well as eating three people-food meals. His favorites are avocado, anything mixed with mango or apricot, and a chicken-carrot combination I made, but he'll tolerate pretty much anything. He likes egg yolk, but only from a fried egg, not hard boiled. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I have become a master at over-easy eggs, and as Don says, if you can do a good over-easy, you can do any kind of egg. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I am not making any promises about posting more, but I am going to try. </div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-74259582027709807622009-12-29T14:37:00.005-05:002009-12-29T14:46:43.683-05:00Angel Fire 2009<div>Where we were:</div><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/SzpbqDXcTZI/AAAAAAAABYE/LwXjB_GgRGE/s1600-h/DSCF0213.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420745879510076818" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/SzpbqDXcTZI/AAAAAAAABYE/LwXjB_GgRGE/s320/DSCF0213.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>What we did:</div><br /><div><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Szpa4vLewWI/AAAAAAAABX8/UfPAVtmMVhg/s1600-h/DSCF0089.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420745032277606754" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Szpa4vLewWI/AAAAAAAABX8/UfPAVtmMVhg/s320/DSCF0089.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Szpa3lLQ57I/AAAAAAAABXk/c6PZEe3_RJw/s1600-h/DSCF0087.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420745012412475314" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Szpa3lLQ57I/AAAAAAAABXk/c6PZEe3_RJw/s320/DSCF0087.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Szpa3BShAyI/AAAAAAAABXY/8yDzQX7BrNI/s1600-h/DSCF0083.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420745002779214626" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Szpa3BShAyI/AAAAAAAABXY/8yDzQX7BrNI/s320/DSCF0083.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Szpa2-HIaoI/AAAAAAAABXM/Fkgo1qUaDhM/s1600-h/DSCF0056.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420745001926158978" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Szpa2-HIaoI/AAAAAAAABXM/Fkgo1qUaDhM/s320/DSCF0056.JPG" /></a> ... a wonderful week. </div></div></div></div></div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-8043050934795441362009-12-14T11:28:00.000-05:002009-12-14T11:30:00.814-05:00How Engineers Wrap Presents<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/SyZn_lNP1nI/AAAAAAAABVc/5B8lVANTIYM/s1600-h/DSC02681.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415129943976695410" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/SyZn_lNP1nI/AAAAAAAABVc/5B8lVANTIYM/s320/DSC02681.JPG" /></a><br /><div></div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-70577655865969442582009-12-09T12:24:00.003-05:002009-12-09T12:46:41.337-05:00Oh hey look! A blog!Yeah. So... um. It's always difficult to come back to something more or less abandoned but I shall try, regardless. My friend Becca is staying with us right now, and somehow having a person to do things with (like yard work, or baking*) really cuts down on computer usage. So does this current stage of babyhood, in which Robert both notices and intensely dislikes being left on his own for any amount of time. His mantra seems to be, 'hold me, play with me, feed me, dance with me, just don't put me down!' On the bright side, he is so much fun right now, what with the giggling, making faces, and overall responsiveness. His sense of object permanence is developing right on schedule, so that when Don leaves the room, Robert stares at the doorway for awhile; or if I remove a non-suitable toy from his hands (like the DVD remote), he cranes his head to see where it went. Further complicating matters is the fact that his average nap is about 45 minutes. If he sleeps an hour, I feel lucky; more than an hour and I get worried. At night, he is still up to nurse every 2-3 hours. We haven't exactly started him on solid foods yet, but have tried giving him little bits of a few things-- some sweet potato on Thanksgiving, some avocado, and banana. I think once he's fully able to sit up on his own, we'll get a high chair and begin the solid foods in earnest; that will probably happen by the time he and I get back from New Mexico after Christmas. To be totally honest, I'm kind of hoping that as solids begin to make up more of his diet, he'll start sleeping longer. <br /><br />We had his six-month pediatrician visit at the end of November, and he is still absolutely perfect in every way, as well as still hovering at the very top of the growth charts for both length and weight-- 20 pounds some ounces, and 28.5 inches. So much for <a href="http://mara-verse.blogspot.com/2009/10/good-grief-45-months-old-already.html">my confidence </a>that, as a fully breast-fed baby, he would gradually stop being so big for his age! Nope. His vaccines have all been fine so far, bolstering my decision to space them out across more visits. <br /><br /><br /><br />*What, you didn't know vegans can bake? They can. They make wonderful cookies, and cupcakes...**<br /><br />** hint, hint.Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-14253899947106147772009-11-08T12:47:00.004-05:002009-11-08T14:50:56.405-05:00Quick catch-upParenthood does not create much time to blog, it seems. Lately, Robert sleeps very lightly, and not for very long at a time. He might nap for twenty minutes or half an hour, then be up again. Regular noises like the kitchen faucet running, my cell phone ringing, the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">vacuum</span> cleaner, or even typing are enough to startle him awake again. Don and his mother have suggested that I keep it too quiet in general, that we need more <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">background</span> noise*. I think it's probably too late to really change that, though. I'm a quiet person by nature, and he's been experiencing that since he was in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">utero</span>. Even if I have the radio on, it's generally NPR or classical. If I lay down and take a nap with him, he'll sleep for much longer. Since he's still up every few hours at night to nurse, I need the rest too. When he's awake, he doesn't like to be alone anymore, or to sit by himself. I used to sit him in his <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">car seat</span>, on a kitchen chair while I would make dinner or clean up the kitchen; he doesn't like that now. Now he craves movement, motion. Wants to be tossed around, bounced, jostled. He's on the verge of being able to crawl, and his inability to move on his own seem to frustrate him.<br /><div></div><br /><div>I feel more than a little frustrated, myself, by my inability to get anything done. Don says not to worry about it-- who cares? I'm home to be with the baby, not to keep house. But I do. We have a friend coming to stay in a few days, and my 'to-do before she gets here' list is shrinking dramatically: not because I'm finishing tasks but because I'm having to pare it down to what I can actually get done. I'm at the point right now where I'm pretty sure I can <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">vacuum</span> the guest room and change the sheets before Thursday... On the bright side, once she's here we'll be able to do all kinds of things just by virtue of having another pair of arms to hold him. </div><div></div><br /><div>That said, we've had a few really great days lately. Don took a Monday off, and for some reason Robert decided to take a two-hour nap that afternoon. I was able to help with the yard work and rescue all the grass clipping and leaves in the front yard.** And on Halloween, Robert and I went apple-picking with some friends, and he was absolutely perfect; just fell sound asleep in the carrier for pretty much the whole time. Gee, baby, is that all it takes-- me carrying you up, around, and down a mountain-side for a few hours, in the fresh, cool apple-orchard air? I'll try to fit that into our daily routine somehow.</div><div></div><br /><div>All in all, it's hard to do more than throw a photo up here. This short post has taken me all morning! <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401821310533034930" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Svcf3KJ047I/AAAAAAAABR0/B3I9JYSMUWE/s320/DSCN1419.JPG" /></div>It's okay to eat the apples. <br /><div>************************************************** </div><br /><div><em></em></div><div><em></em></div><div><em>*Mother-in-law: when Don was a baby, I'd always have the radio or TV on, just for the noise!</em></div><div><em>Me (under breath): and it just did wonders for his attention span, huh?</em></div><div><em>Don: Hey, what are implying, that...wait, what are we talking about, again? </em></div><div><em></em></div><br /><div><em>** We bag the back yard for the compost heap. The front yard, though, is up a hill and far away from said heaps, so it takes too long to bag and haul. Its clippings just gets mulched. But we have built raised beds that I'm filling lasagna-style for next spring, and I wanted that good stuff to fill the beds. Don would empty the bag into the wheelbarrow, I'd run it down to the backyard. I've also been stealing bags of leaves from all over our neighborhood. It's not really stealing, since they're on the curb for pickup already...</em></div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-63191021672216714202009-11-01T16:24:00.000-05:002009-11-01T16:27:23.083-05:00When it rains<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Su39LjmmNmI/AAAAAAAABQ8/cEwzt_ln6P4/s1600-h/DSC02615.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399249903264609890" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Su39LjmmNmI/AAAAAAAABQ8/cEwzt_ln6P4/s320/DSC02615.JPG" /></a><br /><div></div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-53972719888159095132009-10-30T17:37:00.002-04:002009-10-30T17:50:08.731-04:00Announcement:<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/SutfZx78TtI/AAAAAAAABQc/voKJWVEbvls/s1600-h/DSC02594.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398513474839793362" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/SutfZx78TtI/AAAAAAAABQc/voKJWVEbvls/s320/DSC02594.JPG" /></a> The world's most wonderful, loveable, amazing baby is now five month old. <br /><div></div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-42083079767071917062009-10-27T19:51:00.002-04:002009-10-27T20:39:51.237-04:00Granola Cost/Benefit AnalysisI made <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Megans-Granola/Detail.aspx?prop31=1">this granola recipe</a> today, with a few changes: left out the sunflower seeds (because trail mix is trail mix, and granola is granola!), replaced the wheat germ with ground flax seed, used half coconut oil, half butter for the specified "vegetable oil", left out the brown sugar. I was hoping that making it from scratch would prove cheaper than buying the boxed stuff. It isn't and it is, depending how you look at it. <br /><br />Notes for next time: add cinnamon to the dry stuff, not the syrup. Use food processor to chop the nuts. Buy already-ground flax. Lining the sheet pans was overkill. Use something besides raisins-- dates, maybe. Think about getting everything set up and prepped, but not baking the granola until the evening when Don comes home; it was really difficult to keep an eye on it in the oven while taking care of the baby. <br /><br />Overall, it turned out delicious, and it made a <em>lot</em>. I'm probably set for breakfast for a month. I added up the cost of everything as best I could, and compared it to the cost of <a href="http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/brands/product_image.aspx?catID=30873&itemID=32211">boxed granola</a>, it actually came out<em> more</em> expensive, bowl-for-bowl. This is <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">disappointing</span>, BUT. The problem with the comparison is that there isn't actually a comparable product on the market. Or, if there is, it's probably in the bulk-bins area of Whole Foods, and not in a box with a picture on it. For one thing, this recipe is really, <em>extra</em> nutty. Three cups of nuts total, a mix of pecans, walnuts, and almonds. Nuts are expensive, pricier than anything else in the cereal, but are really healthful. No prepackaged cereal that I looked at has as much nuttiness. Butter and coconut oil are more expensive (and again, a lot healthier and yummier) than, say, sunflower oil. Same thing with the maple syrup and honey: pricier than sugar, healthier than sugar. If there were a cereal for sale made with the ingredients I used, in the same proportions, it would probably cost the moon. <br /><br />There's a real comfort in knowing exactly what's in what I eat, which is why I generally make oatmeal or eggs in the morning instead of cold cereal. Why, in the example cereal, is sugar the second ingredient? Second? Really? The proportions in the recipe I used are like this:<br /><br />Oats-- 8 cups<br />Other grains/seeds (oat bran, flax)-- 3 cups<br />Nuts (pecans, almonds, walnuts)-- 3 cups<br />Fruit (raisins)-- 2 cups<br />Sugars (maple syrup, honey)-- 1 cup<br />Fats (butter, coconut oil)-- 1 cup<br />Flavorings (cinnamon, vanilla, salt)-- 2 1/2 tablespoons<br /> <br />Even so, it was plenty sweet, <em>almost </em>too sweet. I guess having so much fruit and nuts adds its own sweetness, too. As the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">MasterCard</span> commercials would say, making your own cereal: $18.29 per batch. Knowing that there's no vegetable oil, no white sugar, and--God forbid-- no soy protein isolate: priceless. (I'm looking at you, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kashi</span>.)Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-37438236753755953352009-10-20T14:29:00.002-04:002009-10-20T15:33:11.712-04:00Stress-- or lack thereof<div align="left"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/St4P2tObHPI/AAAAAAAABPk/2VxiiobXUUc/s1600-h/DSC02579.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394766836163878130" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/St4P2tObHPI/AAAAAAAABPk/2VxiiobXUUc/s320/DSC02579.JPG" /></a> (obligatory baby picture)<br /><br /><br /><div align="left">A little while ago, my dad asked me whether I found motherhood to be stressful, and if I was handling it OK, or something like that. It reinforces this theme that I've noticed again and again, in books, magazines etc; that adding a baby to the family creates major stress. I'm sure this is true in a lot of cases, maybe even most cases. But I haven't found it to be true in mine. Certainly, the baby itself makes a difference; Robert is a fairly easy-going, manageable baby. We've had a few bad days here and there, maybe even a bad week or two. And those first six weeks or so of breastfeeding were pure hell, no doubt about it. But if he were an intense, high-needs, colicky baby, I'd probably be writing a different post... assuming I'd have time to write at all. As it is, I have to say that I feel less stressed right now, than I have in years. </div><br /><br />One overlooked factor in this equation has to be, <em>what came before</em>? What did life pre-baby look like? Maybe it's the couples living their ideal lives who-- poof!-- add a baby on top of it, that have their ceiling fall in. Their lovely relationship that had never been severely tested, suddenly is. Their happy, not-too-stressful lives, changed forever. But I am coming to motherhood from two years of infertility, four miscarriages, and a job that really stressed me out. In a way, I traded two very stressful things (my fertility/miscarriage saga and the job) for one, much-desired and much-less-stressful thing: Robert. Seems a good trade in my book. The major questions that used to keep me awake in the wee hours, like: <em>Are we ever going to have a baby? Is this ever going to happen? What's </em>wrong<em> with me/us? How many miscarriages is too many? How many am I willing to go through before saying, 'enough, no more'?</em>, are gone. Their offspring are smaller and quieter. I worry a bit about the next one, but having one successful pregnancy under my belt makes it so much easier. (<em>I can do this. Look, we did it. It may not be easy, but there's a precedent now.</em>) I used to know, without even trying to think about it, exactly where I was in my cycle. <em>Four days until I ought to be ovulating. Three days. Nine days ago. Too early to take a test?</em> If I was pregnant, I knew exactly how many weeks and days along I was, even as I knew that it didn't mean anything. Really, the first fourteen weeks of my pregnancy with Robert was probably the most stressful time of my life, as I could do nothing but wait helplessly as the days ticked along, waiting for the inevitable cramping and bleeding to start. If I start thinking too much about how I felt then, it still brings tears. Honestly, compared to that, how stressful is waking up to feed a baby, or pacing the house with a crying infant, or changing a poopy blow-out diaper? Not at all, that's how. It's not life-and-death.<br /><br /><br />Of course, I didn't experience all that alone, and Don and I have been tested <em>hard</em>. The guilt and self-blame, trying to comfort one another when so miserable ourselves, the endless doctors' appointments and rounds of tests... Not to say that we're iron-clad and that nothing can affect us now, but I would have a hard time envisioning that the daily stresses of parenthood could damage our relationship when the major trauma of losing our babies, again and again, didn't. To use the old cliche, it didn't kill us and so we're stronger.<br /><br /><br />Not working, after working in a job that didn't suit, is of course a smaller matter than having a baby after dealing with infertility. But in its own way, it's also a big relief. Those small things-- the sales goals not met, the endless meetings, the corporate double-speak, the coworkers one likes well enough in small doses but that drive one nuts with constant exposure-- they all add up. I hadn't liked my job in a long time, but didn't feel able to leave. It was dreading Monday morning, hating the alarm clock, never having enough time to do the things I wanted to do, always holding my tongue. A little baby is a whole lot less demanding than a corporate job, and I'm lucky as hell to be able (so far) to stay home with him. I get more sleep now, than I did then. If Robert keeps me up during the night (or even if he doesn't, but my old friend insomnia does), I can sleep late in the morning, or take a nap later. I eat better, too. Partly this is because I had fallen into the deadly cycle of <em>I'm stressed, I deserve a Snickers bar. After </em>that<em> customer, I need another Starbucks. What a day-- we need to go out to dinner</em>. <em>I'm too tired to pack a lunch; I can buy one at work.</em> With a convenience store across the hallway, a coffee shop next door, and the student cafeteria nearby, temptation was close at hand and I had the cash to indulge myself. Now that I think about it, probably some of the weight that I've lost since having Robert is simply the effect of not having multiple caramel macchiatos, candy bars, fast-food lunches, and restaurant dinners every week. I've not been making a special effort to cook healthy meals (working more on the <em>look, isn't it nice to have a partner at home?</em> aspect, which involves more butter) but pretty much any home-cooked lunch and dinner is going to be better than Pizza Hut for lunch or Chili's for dinner.<br /><br /><br />This is not to say that I am never stressed out, or that being a stay-at-home parent doesn't have its own challenges; rather that, given where I was before, I <em>personally</em> am experiencing much less stress now.<br /></div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-4219688168818366742009-10-19T10:58:00.004-04:002009-10-19T11:47:28.103-04:00Good grief, 4.5 months old already!<div>Amazing: no matter how much I try to slow down time, Robert keeps getting older at an astonishing rate. Despite my best efforts, he is already four and a half months old. Not a newborn anymore... not even still in the "fourth trimester". This rate of change is impossible to adapt to. As soon as I think I have "it" down, it changes. For example, Robert used to be able to sleep pretty much anywhere, any time. I didn't have to worry about whether he got enough naps because he could nap in the stroller, in the car seat, in the Mei <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Tei</span>. He also slept fairly soundly, once he got to a certain point. Now, for the most part, he sleeps much more lightly and it's much harder for him to fall asleep. I didn't realize how much of what I did was dependent on that sound sleep until it changed! Our routine used to be that we'd put him down to sleep in the middle of our big bed, then (usually) move him to his bassinet when we went to bed. I used to trim his fingernails during his naps, and do the dishes. For the last week, though, he's spent every night in the bed, his nails are terribly long and scratchy, and the kitchen is a wreck.<br /><br /><div></div><div>People keep asking me "how he's sleeping", and I don't know how to answer that. He usually goes to bed around 7-8pm, and stays in bed until 8-9 in the morning. During that time, he gets up to nurse three or four times. So, he's certainly not "sleeping through the night", but it's not very disruptive, either; it's not as though I have to haul myself to the kitchen and make up a bottle four times a night. If he's in bed with me, I don't have to get up at all. </div><br /><div>Robert learns something new practically every day. Actually, it probably <em>is</em> every day; most likely some of the things he's learning aren't obvious to us. He's so interested in everything around him, even stuff that seems trivial to us, like the red numbers on the alarm clock. Nursing during the day is becoming difficult as well, because he wants to stop every thirty seconds and look around. For one thing, he doesn't really "unlatch" to do this-- he stretches me to the breaking point instead and suddenly 'pops' off, which is painful. Also, this is impeding my <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">fledging</span> efforts to feed him outside of the house more often (to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">facilitate</span> our being out and about), since it leaves me rather suddenly exposed. More importantly, though, his distractedness is keeping him from eating enough at any one time, so he's hungry again very quickly. I think I'm nursing him more often during the day now, than I was when he was a newborn. </div><br /><div>The most obvious new things right now are his interest in his hands, and the new squeak. He's transitioned from batting impotently at interesting objects, to actually reaching for and grabbing at them. He can hold his rattle, bring it to his mouth, and only occasionally smacks himself in the head with it. He can grab our faces, to scratch us with those sharp little fingernails. He reaches for the cat and dog. The squeak is basically awful. He's replaced all of his previous noises with the new one he's <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">discovered</span>, which falls somewhere between 'bats leaving the cave' and 'nails on chalkboard'. Sometimes it's a happy squeak, sometimes demanding or fretful. Don and I are hoping that it's a short phase. </div><br /><div>For the record: at his four-month doctor visit, Robert weighed 18 pounds and was 27 inches long, which puts him in the 95 percentile for weight, and "officially off the chart" for length, according to his pediatrician. She also declared him the picture of health, and was very impressed with him overall. I like her. At four and a half months post-<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">partum</span>, I've lost all of the 50 pounds that I gained during his pregnancy, plus an extra few. Being the sole source of nutrition for a baby this size is a better fat-burner than any workout DVD: most breastfed babies don't get to this weight until they're closer to 6-8 months old, at which point solid foods would most likely be a part of their diet. I am, however, expecting him to slow down pretty soon, based on this quote from <a href="http://www.kellymom.com/index.html"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kellymom</span></a>: </div><br /><div><a href="http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/growthcharts.html#growth">Healthy breastfed infants tend to grow more rapidly than formula-fed infants in the first 2-3 months of life and less rapidly from 3 to 12 months.</a><a href="http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/growthcharts.html#growth"> </a></div><div> </div><div>For comparison, a picture of Robert at four months, and a very early one taken on the same pillow:</div><br /><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394337360206744338" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/StyJP6m9yxI/AAAAAAAABOg/49jrZaOGq1g/s320/DSC02508.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394337369933893666" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/StyJQe2GUCI/AAAAAAAABOo/2NYqwyp0NfE/s320/Robert%27s+first+days_Mara%27s+pictures+016.jpg" /></div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-75114933432360581332009-10-05T12:49:00.003-04:002009-10-05T12:54:15.266-04:00Grandma's Visit<div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/SsokGC6D0GI/AAAAAAAABLo/4DpMrOtFLDg/s1600-h/DSC02489.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 229px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389159590380425314" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/SsokGC6D0GI/AAAAAAAABLo/4DpMrOtFLDg/s320/DSC02489.JPG" /></a> <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 229px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389159597025187778" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/SsokGbqS18I/AAAAAAAABLw/dq6d9s7INCk/s320/DSC02498.JPG" /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/SsokFp-dltI/AAAAAAAABLg/JH-ZXyeIXCQ/s1600-h/DSC02478.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389159583688005330" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/SsokFp-dltI/AAAAAAAABLg/JH-ZXyeIXCQ/s320/DSC02478.JPG" /></a> I know they're all blurry. I need to learn to better use my camera. But the scenes were cute, even though the documentation sucks. <div></div></div></div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16291879.post-63322298104993718512009-09-13T15:42:00.006-04:002009-09-13T15:58:25.085-04:00Aaaaack!Mother-in-law coming here less than two weeks' notice must clean house. (Breathe. Breathe.) Also, must think of things to do besides sitting around staring at baby, running errands, and similar. Nothing strenuous. Must unearth and display various gifts from same. This blog will probably suffer in between now and then, for obvious reasons, as one cannot dust and write simultaneously, or take boxes of stuff to Goodwill and post photos. Goodbye, sweet computer. I will miss you for awhile.<br /><br />Here's some pictures, in the meantime.<br /><br /><br /><div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Sq1OilW2OfI/AAAAAAAABKo/VdKuZ7EOtZY/s1600-h/DSC02448.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 228px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381043485828069874" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Sq1OilW2OfI/AAAAAAAABKo/VdKuZ7EOtZY/s320/DSC02448.JPG" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Sq1OiKQmLXI/AAAAAAAABKg/c-P-qHcH-dI/s1600-h/DSC02447.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 229px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381043478554094962" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Sq1OiKQmLXI/AAAAAAAABKg/c-P-qHcH-dI/s320/DSC02447.JPG" /></a><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 229px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381041065876072466" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwXqC1Pd2aE/Sq1MVuVVKBI/AAAAAAAABKQ/SIFlfJjdCC0/s320/DSC02443.JPG" /></div>Sometimes, when the baby is napping, I try to spend quality time with the dog and tell her I still love her. I don't think she buys it though. And yes, I seem to take all photos lately on the same unmade bed. </div>Marahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12520136607608312414noreply@blogger.com0