momtime

Before I even got pregnant I'd heard that kids go through phases of preferring one parent over the other. And now we are living it. And boy does it suck.

Currently Tycho wants mama, only mama, GTFO daddy. Which wouldn't be SO bad, except for Daddy is the stay-at-home parent. So, Kyle gets yelled at by an angry baby all day, and mama gets absolutely zero downtime, as when I'm not working I'm ON DUTY. It is shitty and exhausting for everyone. This is only a phase, right?

Check Up Check In

Quick blog check in before I head off to work this morning.

Tycho's visit to the endocrinologist yesterday went fine. I need more time to sit and think and write about it, but for now we're no more worried about him today than we were last week.

A real post, soon.

Update.

Hey blog. I've been away. Nowhere in particular.

Tonight I am up later than I should be. We have Tycho's endocrinologist appointment tomorrow morning, and I'm kind of anxious about it. More about having to do blood draw than the actual results of whatever tests they are going to do, but anxious none the less. But I'm glad that after tomorrow it will be behind us. And then we'll move on to waiting on results. But it's probably nothing.

That's all I have for tonight.

Some Days

Tycho, asleep when I left for work this morning.

Some days are harder than others. Today was one of those days. I didn't sleep well and had a hard time getting out of bed. Tycho was still asleep, so I didn't get any morning baby cuddles. I spent my day yawning and missing my baby.

Most of the time I know that working outside the home is essential for maintaining my sanity. But some days all I want to do is stay home with my family.

Toys.

Today, fair readers, I would like to share with you a few of Tycho's favorite toys:

• my iPhone
• my camera
• the keyboard on Kyle's laptop
• my laptop's power cord
• dvd cases
• my designer handbag
• my hairbrush
• the cat
• any of the cat's disgusting catnip filled toys
• various and sundry junk mail
• half empty soda cans 
• my nose

Babies, man.

Weighty Matters

And now for a slightly heavier post... literally.

Tycho had his nine month well visit on Monday. I was expecting it to be quick and easy; we didn't have anything worrying us to ask about. Tycho seems happy and healthy and developmentally on track... and big. 29 pounds big. His being big in itself isn't a concern, but the way he is growing might be. His growth curve... doesn't actually curve. It's still almost a straight line heading off into oblivion. His gain hasn't slowed at all. Every time we see the doctor he is in an even higher percentile.

We've been referred to a pediatric endocrinologist. What a mouthful. Doc says that he doesn't think anything is wrong, but it is best to be sure. I agree, yes, but also... I don't even want to think about it.

Yesterday Ashley asked me if I had googled what might be wrong with Tycho. Strangely, I hadn't even thought to do that. She said that she did, and told me not to.

The pediatric specialty unit is busy. I called them with Tycho's referral today and made an appointment. The very first opening they had is an entire month away. A month is like, ten percent of Tycho's entire life! How are we supposed to wait a month in this horrible limbo?

So I googled today. I think I am bad at the internet or something because all I get is like ZOMG BABY DIABETES I bet you filled his bottle with Coca Cola! So. I'm pretty sure that's not our problem. I don't know.

I really don't think there's anything wrong with him. He's happy and he eats healthily and still breastfeeds on demand and yeah, he's chubby, but he's not flabby. He's strong. He babbles and moves and learns and he is perfect and harumph.

I thin it's going to be a long month.

Nine Months!

Dear Tycho,

As of yesterday you are nine months old. Nine months on the outside. So, give or take a few days (I haven't done the math), you have been on the outside for as long as you were on the inside.

You just get more and more awesome, it's hard to believe. All of the sudden you are on the go. Just a few weeks ago you started rolling over on the regular, and now you're crawling and pulling yourself up. In general, you are in motion. Daddy and I really need to get on this baby-proofing business before you can outrun us.

Little man, you are so charming. Even though this is supposed to be the prime age for seperation anxiety, you just love everyone you meet. Our cousin Alastair said that you are his favorite baby. (Don't tell his god-daughter!) When we took you in for your check-up all the nurses and receptionists swooned. They always do. You light up when you catch sight of your Grandma and Opa. And they do the same when they see you! You are so much fun these days, I think this is my favorite age so far.

I love you to pieces!

Love, Mama

Big Boy

Every so often I look at Tycho and I don't see a baby. I see the kid he is going to become. It's exciting, but at the same time scares me to death. I don't know how time can go so fast. How is my baby already no longer a baby? On Monday he will be nine months old. He'll have been on the outside as long as he was baking on the inside. I'm starting to plan his birthday party already, because the way things are going these next three month will pass as fast as I can blink.

Light

Tycho is almost nine months old, and he is so much fun these days. I haven't been struck at all by any post-partum mood disorder, nor was Tycho a "hard" baby by any stretch of the imagination, and I've loved him to pieces since before he was born, but I won't lie. I didn't love parenting a newborn. It's not hard, per se, but it is endless and thankless and BORING. Yes, he was adorable, but adorable only gets you so far. Like, twenty minutes. The all day, every day monotony was so not for me.

But now. Now. You would call him a toddler if he could, well, toddle. (He did finally learn how to crawl the other night, yay!) He plays and interacts and has a big toothy grin. He looks like a little kid, not a baby. Sometimes the days are still long, and I can't imagine how I'm going to survive one more hour until bedtime, but for the most part, this stage is AWESOME.

     

When I was taking a shower this morning I was thinking how I kind of miss being pregnant. I am SO not ready to actually think about having another baby, but I do miss the dreamy potential of it all. Give me another year or so. But at least now I can actually imagine doing this again. If you asked me a month or two ago... I don't even know.

Mama

It seems like these days all the cool kids are going by mama. Not mommy. Before getting pregnant I hadn't really thought about what I would be called, but then we baby boy was cooking I got to thinking that mama was definitely preferable to mommy. I don't know why. Bandwagoning, perhaps. Mama. I like it. But I didn't think mama was in the cards for me. Kyle already referred to me as the kitties' "mommy" long before Tycho was even a twinkle in my eye* so mommy I was going to be, I guess.

But maybe not. Without even thinking about it, I've ended up referring to myself as mama. It seems so much more sweet and babyish and that's what makes sense so that's what I say, and even Kyle has mostly followed suit.

Tycho doesn't really care though. Sometimes I feel like he's never going to call me anything. He never even makes an m sound unless he is mad and forgets to open his mouth while he is trying to yell at me. Soon, I hope. I can't wait.

Food Follow Up

So perhaps I should post how the whole food thing went, yeah? I made some a couple more things: apples, bananas, and spinach; avocado with garlic; and greek yogurt with pear and lime.

Making food was SO SUPER RIDICULOUS EASY. I briefly googled for recipes, but everything seemed bland and boring, so I just went to the store and hung out in the produce section and picked up whatever looked good. Seriously. And then when I got home I layed it all out on the counter and pushed together things that might make sense together. Probably not the smartest way to do things, but there you go.

Most things went the same route: peel, cube, steam, puree. Banana and avocado went straight into the food processor without any cooking. And I just chopped the spinach and tossed it in, but you could steam it, too, I suppose. Peas and corn were both frozen, and I just grabbed a handful, thawed under the faucet for a minute, and tossed those in at all. Pretty much not rocket science. I tasted the food at each step and then added whatever seasonings seemed like they made sense. Blah. Sorry that is not more specific, but that is what I did.

I bought on of these guys to freeze the food in. It seemed like a kind of ridiculous thing to buy a freezing tray specifically for baby food, but I did it, and I'm glad. I suppose I could have used a regular ice cube tray, but I can't even get ice out of one of those trays to save my life. In the end, it was a good purchase; the frozen food slides right out, no problem, and then I put it in plastic bags in the freezer. I pull out one or two cubes at a time, microwave for like 20 seconds, stir and go.

Tycho likes them. He doesn't LOVE them, but he likes them. He seems to prefer eating directly off my plate, but sometimes my food isn't super baby friendly. I try to give him one cube of my homemade baby food and then supplement with whatever we are eating, especially meat, so he gets his iron.

That's pretty much it.

I am Martha Fucking Stewart.

Dude. I made my own baby food today. I am so not that girl. But I am now I guess. It is awesome.

We have mostly just been feeding Tycho straight from our plates,  but I bought some purees for our trip for the ease of use, etc., and um, he loved them. Couldn't get enough. But it's weird to me that it can sit on a shelf indefinitely with no refrigeration and such things, and I think they don't have quite enought texture and are too bland and MY BABY. ONLY THE BEST FOR MY BABY. You know.

So.

Today I made sweet potato, red pepper, and sweet onion with nutmeg and ginger, peas, pears, and spinach with basil, and corn mushroom applesauce with cinnamon. And I tasted them all and they are motherfucking delicious. And separated into single serving portions in my freezer. And Tycho was very gracious and took the world's longest nap this afternoon so I could play in the kitchen. I am all pumped up about this. More baby cooking adventures on Saturday, I think!

My new favorite Tycho picture.

Just this:

Gender Rolling

2012 really hasn't so far been kind to my family. In the first week of the new year we found out the investor was pulling out of the startup Kyle was working at, and so, poof! His job was gone. But my ever amazing husband managed to find another, better paying position after maybe a week of unemployment.

Then our car broke down, in the middle of the bridge and it probably needs a new engine, but that same day Kyle got laid off from new job after being there for maybe a month so now he is unemployed again and we only have a single vehicle, because like hell can we afford to fix it right now.

So all of the sudden we went from being a dual-income family, to Kyle being a stay-at-home Dad with no car. He takes the stroller on the bus, I am not even kidding. It is so bizarre; never ever what we imagined we would have. 

It's not the end of the world, but it's also not great. Or even good. I think Kyle might be even less cut out to be a stay-at-home parent than I am (hint: not at all). He's a great dad to Tycho, but it's really hard on him, and I think all he wants is to be back at work.

And I want that, too. Besides insurance premiums, my job doesn't really pay for very much; maybe rent on a good month, but certainly not any other expenses. We're able to stay afloat since we don't right now have to pay for childcare, and unemployment benefits, yadda yadda, but it we be just so nice to be back where we were a couple months ago. SIGH.

HOWEVER. We are going to Las Vegas tomorrow. With the baby, yes. No, it wasn't my idea. But we are convening with Kyle's parents and brothers and I had no say in the destination since the trip was a gift, but yay a vacation, I guess.

Very poorly written post, but it was this or nothing at all. So.

BFing Woes

I have a bunch of posts brewing, but I've been working a lot of overtime lately, blah blah, excuses, etc.

In the mean time I have two words for you: Nipple. Trauma.

I had a nipple bleb. I guess it's a blockage that has tissue heal over the top of it so that the milk can't get out and it's painful as all fuck. Especially since you can't just stop nursing the baby or anything. I had my doctor cut it out with something sharp and pointy yesterday, so things are looking up, but it's still sore and raw and I feel like it will take forever to heal because I'm always pumping or nursing.

That is all. For now.

Valen-Tycho

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm such a sap.

At least once a day (more often two or three times) Tycho does something so heartbreakingly adorable that I get all misty-eyed and have to squeeze him as tight as humanly possible. I am so intrinsically tied to him. I have no idea how that works, but it is beautiful.

No. 2

Good morning, mama, I have two teeth now.

Six Months

Dear Tycho,

You are six months old! Actually, six months and two days, because Mama is a little late with this letter. Anyway, you are amazing. We took you for a checkup to get all weighed and measured and you're such a big boy now! You weigh 24 pounds and 11 ounces, and that puts you in the 99.94 percentile. I never imagined I would have such a big baby, but I wouldn't want it any other way. You are almost 28 inches tall. You've grown so much since our last visit.

Growth "curve" - more like a line, I think.

You have one tooth, and I think another one is on the way. You've figured out how to use it already, working on the apple slices we give you. Speaking of food, you had your first taste of avocado this week. Fun, but messy.

You totally love food. You will try anything, and there hasn't been anything so far that you haven't liked. Sometimes it's a little hard feeding you, since you want to participate in everything, but I don't think you're quite old enough to hold your own spoon just yet.

You're still not really rolling or scooting, but you sometimes lurch forward from sitting, so I don't think crawling is too far off.In any case, you're so big that you look like you could just get up and walk if you wanted to. Even to me.

You are very much YOU, now. You have a definite personality and you are sweet and funny and often demanding. You are very good for Grandma and daycare while I'm at work, but you are so happy to see me when I get home. You love to play with Daddy, and your laughter fills the entire house. You are always wiggling your legs, so it's pretty impressive that they are still so impossibly chubby.

There has been more packed into the short time since you've been born than in any other six month period that I can remember. You are such an awesome little person. I love you!

Love, Mama.

Food!

As we close in on six months, we are giving Tycho more and more solid foods.

He's been showing signs of readiness since before four months, and I can't eat with him on my lap anymore, without him diving into my plate. We've been trying to hold off until that six month mark, but we've been letting him have tastes of what we're eating since he's clearly so interested. Tycho has not met a food that he doesn't like.

Trying some mashed potatoes on Christmas Eve

Mostly he's just been trying a bit of whatever off the tip of our fingers. He's tried mashed potatoes, peas, corn, black beans, tomato, orange juice, even Indian food! This past week we've started giving him more substantial stuff, including his very own piece of steak! Which he liked very much.

Shortly I'm going to start making some purees, because while he loves going to town on a big piece of food,  ala baby led weaning, he's not actually ingesting terribly much of it, so we're going to do a little of both.

In closing, please enjoy this video of Tycho eating an apple: