Yo, Gobble Gobble

Charlotte had a great first Thanksgiving!  We went to my parents' condo in Mammoth, in the Eastern Sierras.  It's 250 miles away, but seeing as how we have to drive through the mountains to get there, it takes four and a half hours on a good day.  Throw in a 5 month old, and you're adding at least another half hour to an hour.  We left on Wednesday afternoon, and the drive was pretty easy.  Charlotte handled it well, although she had a rough first night, waking up every hour or so and crying.  Mammoth is at a pretty high altitude, over 8000 feet, and that's high enough to make me get a very mild form of altitude sickness (headache and dry throat). Poor Charlotte couldn't communicate her discomfort, other than crying.

Anyway, we ate a lot of yummy food, drank a lot of wine, and relaxed.  My mom and I saw New Moon on Friday afternoon (one of two movies playing at the Mammoth movie theater), and it was actually a lot better than I expected (I thought the first movie was pretty awful).  When we got out of the theater, the weather had changed quite drastically, and it was snowing!  I love when it snows in the mountains because it means it's time for ski season; however, it's not so great when you have to drive in it.

When we woke up the next morning, Saturday, at least a foot of snow had falled on the ground, which did not bode well for our drive home that day.  The weather report indicated that the storm had mostly passed through, but that was not the case at all.  It was never quite a whiteout, but it was definitely the most snow I've seen along Highway 395.  A truck flipped over, semis were stuck in the snow, and we even had to navigate around some cars stuck in the middle of the road.  Pretty harrowing.  Thank goodness for the Subaru and not having to put on chains!  Unfortunately, the drive home still took SEVEN hours!  Charlotte did great, considering we didn't get to stop at our halfway point until after over three hours of driving.  Sadly, the hours spent alone in the backseat, rear-facing, must have done a number on our little girl because she screamed and screamed on Saturday night until about two a.m.  We've never experienced anything like it!  Everytime we tried to put her in her crib, she'd start screaming inconsolably.  And then once Charlotte finally fell asleep, Tandy decided to howl at the top of her lungs every time the heater kicked on.  It was a pretty miserable night.

However, here are the fun pictures from our weekend.

Charlotte's daycare lady made her an Indian headdress to wear.

Charlotte tried mashed bananas for the first time - yum!

Having fun with her Mimi!

Charlotte's first time in the snow! (She wasn't really sure what to make of it).

Family Photo Session!

Thanksgiving update coming soon, but first: I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I'm a card-carrying member (okay, make that dues-paying member, we don't have cards) of the Greenhaven Mothers' Club.  Greenhaven is the name of my neighborhood in Sacramento (our house is on a street off of Greenhaven Drive), and there has been an active Mothers Club since 1969.  I can't remember how I found out about it, but I joined the club back in April to solicit some daycare advice from its members.  That's how I found our daycare lady, Linda.  I haven't been that involved yet because I'm such a new mom, and Charlotte doesn't do that much yet, but I've been pretty impressed by their organizational skills.  It's a pretty impressive club -- most of the moms are working moms, and most of the children are probably in the 2 to 6 year old range.  Charlotte was one of the youngest, but no longer.  One of the activities that the club does is to provide homecooked meals to new moms.  So my first "job" is to make a meal to a second-time mom whose baby was born ten days ago.  The club is also how I received a gently used Exersaucer and a Bumbo seat, both given by members looking to get rid of their kids' outgrown items!

The club also chooses a charity to sponsor for the year.  This year, the charity is a local women's/children's shelter, the only such homeless shelter for women and children in Sacramento.  The women and children who stay there are down on their luck and/or escaping an abusive environment. I've already donated outgrown diapers (unused, obviously!) and some detergent.  Two weeks ago, the moms' club hosted its annual charity auction to benefit the shelter.  Members went throughout Sacramento asking local businesses and restaurants for items to auction, and there were some great items to bid on.

One of the items I bid on was a one hour photography session plus digital photos with a local children's photographer.  I was so thrilled to win!  I emailed the photographer the very next day to see if she could fit us in for a session in advance of Christmas, and she scheduled us for the next day.  We met her at a beautiful neighborhood park in Carmichael, and we had a lot of fun taking pictures.  Charlotte did great, even though it was getting pretty chilly near the end.  To view the photos, click here and then click on Clients.  The password is our last name.

Here's a preview: Charlotte had a blast in the baby swing!

My Guilty Mommy Pleasure

There is this website that I discovered before Charlotte was born.  It's called Mama Bargains.  The people who run this site get ridiculously good deals on trendy things for babies, kids and moms.  I'm not a huge shopper by nature, but the stuff they sell there is so cute!  B.C., I bought a pair of cute Mary Jane shoes that supposedly are good for new walkers.  They normally sell for $32, but I bought a pair for $10 on this site.  I can't imagine spending $32 for a pair of shoes that Charlotte will undoubtedly outgrow in a week, but it was $10, so score!

Okay, so we all know that SIDS is a real threat, which is why you're not supposed to put babies on their stomachs to sleep, nor are you supposed to put blankets or bumpers, or anything that might pose a suffocation risk.  I admit that I've kept the bumpers intact because I figured Charlotte moving and scooting all the time posed a greater threat, and until recently, blankets were a nonissue since it was so flipping hot here.  But now it's freezing outside (freezing for Sacramento, that is), and our house is not well insulated.  Solution?  The Grobag!  It's European!  It's a wearable sleeping bag!  It keeps baby from flipping over!  Okay, the last one is supposed to be a plus (and one of the main selling points for me), but the Grobag I bought on Mama Bargains is for 6 - 18 months, so Charlotte has some room to grow, and hence, flips over very easily. And I bought it for like 500% off!!!  Because you know, you have to spend money to save money, right??? :)

Anyway, I just thought that Charlotte in her Grobag was too cute to not capture on film.

The funniest aspect of the Grobag is that it comes in varying "Togs" from the 0.5 Tog to the 2.5 Tog.  Tog, apparently, is British for warmth?  I bought the 2.5 Tog for the winter (for rooms with temps under 70 degrees Farenheit) and a 0.5 for the summer.  As you can see from the picture, Charlotte doesn't quite fill out the chest of her "Oops a Daisy" Grobag.  As such, she's just too little right now to be a proper Grobag-sporting baby.  Plus, we're still using the SwaddleMe blanket as she has some room to grow there. We also put her quilt over that for warmth. She doesn't flip over, nor does she wiggle to the end of the crib anymore so I feel confident that she can actually have a blanket with her. 

So there you have it.  I've become a crazed online shopping mom.  I check MB quite often because as soon as one item sells out, they post another.  ACK!  Luckily, I've only bought these two items. Thus far.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly?

I'm devoting this post to me to provide an update on life post-baby.

We'll start with the good:

• How natural it is to be a mother.  When Charlotte needs something I don't think, I jump up and do it.  Sure there are times when I wish I didn't have to (see the bad), but for the most part, it's not a chore at all.  There's something very gratifying about taking care of someone so helpless.  I think parenting has come very naturally to Chris as well.  He's a great partner and does whatever he can to help out.
• Mornings.  Morning is the best time of day.  Charlotte almost always wakes up happy and just grins and laughs constantly.
• Weight loss.  I think I mentioned that I gained 55 pounds when I was pregnant.  Crazy, I know!  A lot was attributed to water weight gain, but a lot was just packed on for some reason.  I'm not really sure how it happened considering that I didn't overeat -- I would wake up in the middle of the night and be hungry, but I never let myself eat.  I walked a lot in the beginning, but my back problems made that hard in the middle of the pregnancy, so maybe that was a contributing factor. Anyway, I've lost 45 of those 55 pounds and I'm still on the losing side.  Unfortunately, I'm still in that in-between world where most of my clothes don't fit, but I'm getting there, and I'm pretty proud of myself.  My pre-pregnancy jeans fit, although pretty tightly.  The holidays are upon us, and all that good food makes it hard to continue to lose weight, so if I maintain my current weight during this period, I'll be pretty happy.  The ultimate goal is to have all the weight lost by nine months postpartum, so that would be around March.  
• Speaking of weight loss, my wedding rings finally fit on my finger again! I was so sure I would have to have them resized, but just today, I tried them on, and they fit!  Hurray!  I haven't worn my rings since January.  I resorted to wearing a ring from my right hand on my left because my right-hand fingers are a half-size bigger than my left.  Strange, but I'm left-handed, so I guess I use my left fingers more, so they're more toned?
• Going back to work has been much easier and more enjoyable than I expected.  My company is very accommodating and family-friendly, so that helps as well.  I enjoy being around my co-workers, while at the same time always thinking about my little girl.

The bad:

• Being sick and having a baby.  I somehow contracted strep throat.  I have no idea how or from whom, but I've got it.  After spending perhaps the most painful weekend of my life, where even swallowing my saliva was torture, I begged Kaiser to get me an appointment with my doctor.  Yes, I understand that an accompanying cold means it might be a virus, but this was the worst sore throat ever!  My doctor took one look and said, yep, I think it's strep.  She did a throat culture just to be sure, but went ahead and prescribed antibiotics, along with some cough syrup mixed with codeine, and said I could take vicodin for the pain. 
• But let's back up for a second.  In those B.C. days (Before Charlotte), when I would get sick, I'd sit in bed, sleep, and basically do nothing while I convalesced.  That is no longer an option.  She relies on me for food, entertainment, etc.  Combine that with Charlotte also having a cold, and you've got a fussy baby, and a sleepless mommy.  Charlotte also gets very fussy if we're not busy, busy, busy on the weekends.  There's only so often that we can move her from the ExerSaucer to the swing to the bouncer to the blanket before she's had enough.  However, if you take her out and about for errands and she's in her car seat?  She's happy and calm for hours.  But I was sick, so taking her out and about was not an option.  Chris took her on an errand or two, so I could get a little nap in, but for the most part, we dealt with a very bored and fussy baby this weekend.
• Luckily, I was able to take a sick day from work today, and we sent Charlotte to daycare thank goodness.  And seeing as how I'm still contagious and that there are pregnant women at work, I'll be staying home again tomorrow, and Charlotte will be going to daycare again!  This truly makes me appreciate stay-at-home moms who most likely don't have the option to drop the kids off somewhere when they're feeling lousy.
• Let's see, what else is bad?  Not much.  I don't get a lot of free time.  We still haven't cashed in on offers from friends and neighbors to babysit Charlotte so we can have a date night, although that's probably due more to our laziness than anything else.  She goes to bed at 7, so it's easy!
• Pumping is still a pain in the rear.  Once I made peace with the fact that I could only produce about half of what Charlotte eats, it became easier.  I just do what I can and know that's she getting enough calories from formula.  Still, it's annoying because I can't really take any other breaks or I feel guilty, and pumping takes an entire hour out of my workday.  But I know it's worth it for Charlotte.
• Here's a bad-turned-good.  I used to hate working out.  It was last on my list of what I wanted to do.  But now, it's a chance for me to go running or to the gym and just be by myself.  I feel relaxed and invigorated afterwards.

The Ugly?

• I'm not really sure about this one.  Stretch marks, maybe?  Eh, but I don't even really care.  They're becoming less noticeable and I guess they're a badge of motherhood.
• Poop?  Yes, I've dealt with my fair share of explosions, but I got over the yuck factor pretty quickly.
• Charlotte's mullet?  She has quite the party in the back, and it just keeps growing longer. And there's a lovely bald spot right above the mullet.  Okay, so I really don't think it's ugly, but pretty hilarious.  I'm not really sure what to do.  Cut it?  It's going to take a long time for the rest of her hair to catch up. Hmmm...
• I'd say the only real issue to add to this column is when, every so often, I stop what I'm doing at work and add up the number of hours I'm physically spending with Charlotte during the week.  It doesn't add up to much.  But I try not to do that because I know that it will just bring me down, and I know that life is pretty good the way it is.

Swinging!

Yesterday was Veterans' Day, so both Charlotte and I had the day off. Chris did not.  I'd kind of forgotten how exhausting it is to entertain a baby all day, even though I tried to keep us moving so as to not to incur bored baby wrath.  First, it was a long day.  We have given up on our swaddle weaning for now because she keeps flipping onto her tummy and waking herself up and deciding that while she's awake, she might as well eat some food.  The swaddle blanket allows for blissful sleep (she can only roll over if she manages to break free), which equals a happy mommy.  In fact, the past three nights in a row she has slept for 11 to 12 hours long - from 7PM until 6AM (6:45 this morning).  Amazing!  This, of course, means me waking up in sheer terror that something is wrong.  So we were both up at 6AM yesterday because Charlotte had had such a long sleep that she was ready for the day!

But after going grocery shopping, playing, eating, etc., I was out of ideas.  (On a side note, I tried feeding Charlotte applesauce.  She was not a fan.  But rice cereal mixed with breastmilk = yum!  I don't get it.)  Instead, I decided to go for a walk with her in her big baby stroller -- the one where she actually faces forward.  Charlotte liked this a lot because she could see everything.  Every so often, I stopped the stroller and would point things out to her like "there's a tree, there's a kitty, oooh look ducks!"  The greenbelt along which we live connects to these series of canals boarded on each side with bike trails.  The canals are just full of ducks and geese, and since it was a holiday, plenty of school-aged children feeding the ducks.  Charlotte loved hearing and seeing those ducks quacking and furiously going after bits of old bread.  This may have been the first time she's ever noticed ducks.

Anyway, we ended up at the neighborhood park about a mile and a half from our house.  There are plenty of closer ones, but Charlotte and I needed a long walk!   This park looks pretty fun, and I can't wait until Charlotte is old enough to take on the slide or the tire swing, but for now, the only equipment suitable was the baby swing.  She's still a bit small, but she really enjoyed it! I managed to capture her with the video on my iPhone, which seamlessly uploads to YouTube. Enjoy!

Introducing Solids: Big Fat Fail!

Tuesday night, we finally had everything we needed to start introducing solid foods. Yes, I made the ridiculous decision to order baby spoons and bowls online (I was ordering other stuff and just had to get that $25 free super saver shipping on Amazon!), so I've been waiting for them to arrive. I realize that I could have just driven over to the drugstore and bought a rubber-tipped spoon for a dollar, but what's the fun in that? We also were waiting for a Bumbo seat that a lady in the Greenhaven Moms' Club graciously decided to give to us. Charlotte's not quite ready to sit in a high chair yet, but the Bumbo, what fun!

Okay and let me clarify.  By solid foods, I mean semi-liquidy rice cereal. Yum! I sure do wish I were a baby again to eat rice cereal, not!

Wait, where was I? So we had the seat, the spoon, the bowl, the cereal, we were all set to go. The Problem? Our little Wiggle Worm. She didn't want to stop twisting and turning the entire time! Either Chris or I had to sit behind her and hold onto her arms to prevent the twisting. And although she was really interested in the brightly colored baby spoon, she didn't quite master the whole eat and swallow thing. Instead, the cereal just spilled out her mouth. I guess Charlotte has to figure out how to use her tongue to bring in food as opposed to just pushing everything out. I'm not really sure is she actually managed to swallow any of the cereal. First attempt: big fat fail! I guess we'll just keep trying.

Oh, and the funniest part? Chris getting totally freaked out by the rice cereal that went everywhere but inside Charlotte's mouth -- on the Bumbo, in Charlotte's hair, hands, neck, shirt, you name it! He wanted to wipe up after every bite spit, so I spent most of the time trying to convince him that it's okay if cereal gets everywhere. This must explain why Chris doesn't like to eat ribs or any meat with his hands because OH MY GOD the mess from barbecue sauce! Who knew he was so fastidious? I guess, as his wife, I should have been tipped off?

*Update: I wrote this on Tuesday, but didn't get around to finishing it. We tried again on Wednesday night, but it wasn't much better. Charlotte seems interested and didn't twist as much in the Bumbo, so I guess there's some improvement. Tongue thrusting continues.

Charlotte aux Fraises

Happy Halloween!

Charlotte had a great first Halloween. She dressed up as a strawberry! I'm not sure if I've shared this before, but in France the character for Strawberry Shortcake is "Charlotte aux Fraises." A "Charlotte" is a type of cake in French, generally made with ladyfingers. I personally think a Charlotte aux Fraises cake sounds way much better than strawberry shortcake. And fraises (prounced fre as in Fred + zzz) means strawberry in French. So fitting for our little Baby Berry!  On that note, I think a number of you readers have been wondering how "framboise" is pronounced.  It's pronounced "fram" as in jam and boise as in "bwahzz."  I know that in French a lot of words have the "s" silent but when there is an "e" at the end it turns into a zzz sound.

Okay, that's enough of a French lesson.  So without further ado, here's our little berry!!!

The hat was entirely too large, so Mimi (who was here to celebrate Charlotte's first Halloween), made it smaller by using a couple safety pins.  But all in all, a super cute outfit!