Showing posts with label random musings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label random musings. Show all posts
Friday, November 22, 2013
Some funny conversations
On our way to Gymnastics last night
Charlotte: Mommy, will I get homework in Kindergarten just like I do in Junior K?
Me: Probably.
Charlotte: Yay! I love homework! It's my favorite.
Me: You might not always says that.
Charlotte: Why? I love doing homework.
Lunchtime one Saturday or Sunday
Charlotte: I want some water. Ice water.
Me: Okay, but I'm busy getting lunch ready.
Charlotte: I know, Mommy. You're not an octopus - you only have 2 arms!
Phoebe: I want juice, peeze.
Me: Apple juice or orange juice?
Phoebe: Milk juice
Me: Okay...
Putting Phoebe in Chris' car this morning
Me: Bye Phoebe! I love you!
Phoebe: Pumpkin
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Latest Obsession
Have you heard of Downton Abbey? It's a British miniseries about life in an English manor 100 years ago. I heard about it some time last year, probably when the first season was aired on PBS, but I kept reading it as Downtown Abbey and thought it was some weird British comedy about monks living in London. Well, the second season just started on January 9, and I kept seeing people posting about it on Facebook, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. And Mom, if you're reading this, get it on Netflix now! It's right up your alley. You will quickly become as obsessed as I am.
So Netflix has the first season streaming online, and PBS has all of the episodes from the first season on its website. I started watching it on Sunday, and I was instantly hooked. I watched two episodes that night and then two more during Charlotte's nap on Monday. And I'm so glad that I could watch the first episode of the new season on PBS and then record the rest. It starts out in April 1912 with the news of the sinking of the Titanic, and the turmoil it brings to the manor. It's a striking dichotomy between the rich and the servant class on the precipice of major changes that will ultimately break down class barriers (hello World War I!). The costumes are stunning, as are the sets, and Maggie Smith plays the Dowager Countess of Grantham, and she is splendid, as she is in pretty much every role she plays. (On a side note - she's looked old, or made to look old, for a really long time - don't you remember how old she seemed on Hook even though that was 20 years ago and she was not even 65? Or maybe it was because I was 10 and anyone that age would have seemed ancient. But I digress...)
Plus, who can look at that amazing manor and not want to live in it. Lady Mary's prim hunting/riding uniform makes me want to go hunting, and I'm not exactly the hunting type.
So yes, obsessed. Please join in on my obsession so I have someone to talk to about it with!
So Netflix has the first season streaming online, and PBS has all of the episodes from the first season on its website. I started watching it on Sunday, and I was instantly hooked. I watched two episodes that night and then two more during Charlotte's nap on Monday. And I'm so glad that I could watch the first episode of the new season on PBS and then record the rest. It starts out in April 1912 with the news of the sinking of the Titanic, and the turmoil it brings to the manor. It's a striking dichotomy between the rich and the servant class on the precipice of major changes that will ultimately break down class barriers (hello World War I!). The costumes are stunning, as are the sets, and Maggie Smith plays the Dowager Countess of Grantham, and she is splendid, as she is in pretty much every role she plays. (On a side note - she's looked old, or made to look old, for a really long time - don't you remember how old she seemed on Hook even though that was 20 years ago and she was not even 65? Or maybe it was because I was 10 and anyone that age would have seemed ancient. But I digress...)
Plus, who can look at that amazing manor and not want to live in it. Lady Mary's prim hunting/riding uniform makes me want to go hunting, and I'm not exactly the hunting type.
So yes, obsessed. Please join in on my obsession so I have someone to talk to about it with!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Backyard Tweets
Some exciting things have been happening in our backyard that past few days. For one, we had a solid patio cover installed. The wooden lattice patio cover was rotting and the paint was flaking everywhere. In five hours, the builders had the old one down and the new one up, complete with a ceiling fan.
Excuse the lighting as I used my iPhone for all of these pictures. Anyway, it looks amazing, and it will be so nice to enjoy Spring and Fall days when it's raining, but not super cold. The fan will also make hot summer days more tolerable.
We also bought some new patio furniture now that we have a solid cover to protect them from the elements.
I love the way it looks, and it definitely goes really well with the patio cover.
The biggest excitement in the backyard was on Sunday afternoon, however. We came back from Home Depot, where we had purchased the outdoor fan and some tomato fertilizer for my tomato plant. I was filling up my trusty watering pail (see in the above picture), when I saw this little guy around the wooden play set:
I immediately yelled for Chris to stop watching the final game of the NBA finals and come help me. First, it was clear that this chick was hurt in some way. When we would get close to him, he would attempt to walk away, but would tip over sideways instead. We also had no idea what kind of bird he was until he started moving. His neck suddenly doubled in size, and my first thought was a great egret or some other wading bird. I also burst into tears because, next to him, was a seriously decomposed chick. Chris also said that he almost ran over another dead one earlier that day when he was mowing the lawns. I was just heartbroken because he was just so little and helpless and clearly his mother was no longer around. In any case, he had most certainly fallen out of his nest in the tree above the play set and was in need of help. Charlotte was also very concerned by the little guy and exclaimed, "Oh no! Quack quack fall down!"* She also tried to feed him grubs that I dug up, but given that the chick was so little, he probably needed the food regurgitated, and I wasn't about to do that.
But we had no idea what to do or whom to call. Chris was saying something along the lines of "this is life," but I wasn't willing to give up so easily. So I turned to Twitter. I'm not much of a Tweeter (Twitterer?), but I figured there's got to be someone out there who knows something about birds (read from the bottom up).
Then I found the Twitter account for International Bird Rescue, @IntBirdRescue, and tweeted a similar message. They responded really quickly and gave me a link of all the Wildlife Rescue organizations in California. They also sent out my message to all of their 3,000 plus followers to solicit more advice.
I located the number for the Sacramento County wildlife rescue, but when I called, they were already closed for the day and weren't accepting any drop-offs until 10AM on Monday. I didn't know what to do as I had to be at work by 10 due to a presentation I was supposed to give, and Chris was on his way to Portland for a work trip.
Meanwhile, I tweeted the above picture to @IntBirdRescue and asked if it was an egret. They thought it was and directed me to immediately put it in a ventilated box and get it to the nearest rehab center. Chris captured the little guy, and we put him in the box in our bathroom with the door closed, so Tandy wouldn't be tempted to have a midnight snack.
Luckily, we are very close to the El Dorado County border, so when I met up with my Playgroup Moms for drinks that night, they suggested Sierra Wildlife Rescue in Placerville as many of them live in El Dorado Hills (just up the hill from Folsom).
All night long, I tossed and turned thinking about the poor little chick. I was told not to give him food or water, so I kept having nightmares that he had died. However, when I checked on him in the morning, he was fine.
I called Sierra Wildlife Rescue in the morning and I was put through to the "egret lady," who told me to get it up to Placerville as soon as I could. They were open much earlier than the Sacramento County one, so I hightailed it up there at around 8:30. The ladies were waiting for me when I arrived. They were very nice, and I found out that everyone who works there are volunteers (and they're open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week). I handed off the little guy, and all the volunteers ooh and aahed about how beautiful he is. One lady actually thought it was a blue heron. She asked me if we lived next to a rookery, as apparently herons like to nest in colonies. I said, it's just a nest in a tall tree in our backyard and to my knowledge there's only one of them (how crazy would it be if a bunch of herons decided to all nest in our tree?!).
Since the verdict was still out on what kind of wading bird it was, I turned back to Twitter this time asking the Audubon Society of California:
I got confirmation this time that it's actually a green heron. I had never heard of a green heron before, so I immediately did a Google Image search, and sure enough, that's what it is. It's not endangered in any way, but it is rare to see them as the adults are usually only active at dusk and dawn. This explains why we never saw the mother bird going to and from our tree (albeit the nest is up really, really high), and gives me more insight into the cracked teal blue eggs I found in the yard a few weeks ago (I was certain they were robin eggs). This might be boring to the average person, but I thought it was amazing to have such a beautiful bird nesting in our backyard.
In any case, I am feeling pretty good about social media right now. Thanks to Twitter, I was able to find out exactly what to do, and I hope I saved a life. It's also really amazing to think that there are such kind-hearted souls out there who do nothing all day but nurse little animals back to health. Kind of renews your faith in people.
*Since then, Charlotte has gone outside each day asking "Where'd quack quack go, Mommy? Where'd quack quack go?"
Excuse the lighting as I used my iPhone for all of these pictures. Anyway, it looks amazing, and it will be so nice to enjoy Spring and Fall days when it's raining, but not super cold. The fan will also make hot summer days more tolerable.
We also bought some new patio furniture now that we have a solid cover to protect them from the elements.
I love the way it looks, and it definitely goes really well with the patio cover.
The biggest excitement in the backyard was on Sunday afternoon, however. We came back from Home Depot, where we had purchased the outdoor fan and some tomato fertilizer for my tomato plant. I was filling up my trusty watering pail (see in the above picture), when I saw this little guy around the wooden play set:
I immediately yelled for Chris to stop watching the final game of the NBA finals and come help me. First, it was clear that this chick was hurt in some way. When we would get close to him, he would attempt to walk away, but would tip over sideways instead. We also had no idea what kind of bird he was until he started moving. His neck suddenly doubled in size, and my first thought was a great egret or some other wading bird. I also burst into tears because, next to him, was a seriously decomposed chick. Chris also said that he almost ran over another dead one earlier that day when he was mowing the lawns. I was just heartbroken because he was just so little and helpless and clearly his mother was no longer around. In any case, he had most certainly fallen out of his nest in the tree above the play set and was in need of help. Charlotte was also very concerned by the little guy and exclaimed, "Oh no! Quack quack fall down!"* She also tried to feed him grubs that I dug up, but given that the chick was so little, he probably needed the food regurgitated, and I wasn't about to do that.
But we had no idea what to do or whom to call. Chris was saying something along the lines of "this is life," but I wasn't willing to give up so easily. So I turned to Twitter. I'm not much of a Tweeter (Twitterer?), but I figured there's got to be someone out there who knows something about birds (read from the bottom up).
Then I found the Twitter account for International Bird Rescue, @IntBirdRescue, and tweeted a similar message. They responded really quickly and gave me a link of all the Wildlife Rescue organizations in California. They also sent out my message to all of their 3,000 plus followers to solicit more advice.
I located the number for the Sacramento County wildlife rescue, but when I called, they were already closed for the day and weren't accepting any drop-offs until 10AM on Monday. I didn't know what to do as I had to be at work by 10 due to a presentation I was supposed to give, and Chris was on his way to Portland for a work trip.
Meanwhile, I tweeted the above picture to @IntBirdRescue and asked if it was an egret. They thought it was and directed me to immediately put it in a ventilated box and get it to the nearest rehab center. Chris captured the little guy, and we put him in the box in our bathroom with the door closed, so Tandy wouldn't be tempted to have a midnight snack.
Luckily, we are very close to the El Dorado County border, so when I met up with my Playgroup Moms for drinks that night, they suggested Sierra Wildlife Rescue in Placerville as many of them live in El Dorado Hills (just up the hill from Folsom).
All night long, I tossed and turned thinking about the poor little chick. I was told not to give him food or water, so I kept having nightmares that he had died. However, when I checked on him in the morning, he was fine.
I called Sierra Wildlife Rescue in the morning and I was put through to the "egret lady," who told me to get it up to Placerville as soon as I could. They were open much earlier than the Sacramento County one, so I hightailed it up there at around 8:30. The ladies were waiting for me when I arrived. They were very nice, and I found out that everyone who works there are volunteers (and they're open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week). I handed off the little guy, and all the volunteers ooh and aahed about how beautiful he is. One lady actually thought it was a blue heron. She asked me if we lived next to a rookery, as apparently herons like to nest in colonies. I said, it's just a nest in a tall tree in our backyard and to my knowledge there's only one of them (how crazy would it be if a bunch of herons decided to all nest in our tree?!).
Since the verdict was still out on what kind of wading bird it was, I turned back to Twitter this time asking the Audubon Society of California:
I got confirmation this time that it's actually a green heron. I had never heard of a green heron before, so I immediately did a Google Image search, and sure enough, that's what it is. It's not endangered in any way, but it is rare to see them as the adults are usually only active at dusk and dawn. This explains why we never saw the mother bird going to and from our tree (albeit the nest is up really, really high), and gives me more insight into the cracked teal blue eggs I found in the yard a few weeks ago (I was certain they were robin eggs). This might be boring to the average person, but I thought it was amazing to have such a beautiful bird nesting in our backyard.
 |
| Picture of Green Heron and Chicks from PointsinFocus.com |
In any case, I am feeling pretty good about social media right now. Thanks to Twitter, I was able to find out exactly what to do, and I hope I saved a life. It's also really amazing to think that there are such kind-hearted souls out there who do nothing all day but nurse little animals back to health. Kind of renews your faith in people.
*Since then, Charlotte has gone outside each day asking "Where'd quack quack go, Mommy? Where'd quack quack go?"
Sunday, January 30, 2011
An Overdue Update
I guess updating my blog should have been on my list of resolutions for 2011. Almost a whole month and no posting? Tisk tisk.
On the other hand, I've already finished reading six books since the first of the year, and it's not even February yet! My eReader, the Nook, is kind of addictive. As my friend said about it last week: "It's like giving a crack pipe to a crack addict." I wouldn't know anything about that, but considering I love reading, it can be pretty dangerous to my wallet to have millions of books available to download at the click of a button. So yeah, I'd say I'm well on my way to reading 26 books and probably many more than that.
So what's new besides myaddiction voracious reading habit?
I went to DC for a conference about two weeks ago. I was gone for four full days and three nights, the longest I've been away from Charlotte thus far. It went really well, actually. I missed her of course, but I was happy to hear that Charlotte wasn't nearly as upset as when I went to Dallas last September. In fact, we video chatted every night. She was really cute about it -- Chris would prop his laptop in the playroom, and Charlotte would just play as though I were actually there. I'd ask her to get me a glass of water from her play kitchen, and she'd run over and bring me the glass of water. When I said goodnight to her, she even tried to kiss the computer. It was just so cute.
I made the mistake of telling a coworker that we can still take Charlotte to pretty much any restaurant. That very night we took Charlotte to a local Italian restaurant. It's not a super fancy place, but the other people who were there that night were clearly there for special occasions (an anniversary, a 50th birthday, etc.). Charlotte was okay in the beginning, especially when her food was served early. She ate fine, but as soon as our entrees arrived, she decided that being in her high chair was the absolute worst place she could be at that moment. It also didn't help that the people dining at the table next to ours remarked how good she was being (double karma time!). Whining and then screaming ensued. I took her outside and walked her around while Chris ate, and then we switched places. Ultimately, we decided to just grab our food to go and leave. The lesson here: before what you brag about because it will without a doubt come back to haunt you.
The moms in the Saturday working moms playgroup decided to have a "moms night out" on Friday. Four of us met up, and we found a nice little bistro with a wine bar/lounge attached. It's really nice to get to know new moms, especially without our babies in tow. I was starting to wonder if every mom in Folsom but me is a stay-at-home mom.
Finally, Charlotte has been super cute at bedtime. She has decided she won't kiss either of us unless Chris and I kiss each other first. After we kiss, Charlotte kisses Chris on the lips, then me, and then pushes us together to kiss again -- she actually grabs Chris' neck and my shoulder and makes us kiss. And then repeats the process over and over again until I'm laughing so hard I can't kiss anymore. What a silly goose.
Here's to more updating soon!
*No new pictures. I'm definitely failing at that resolution so far. I did, however, finally order a calendar of pictures of Charlotte from throughout last year, which is funny considering tomorrow is the last day of January. Oh well. I will keep trying!
On the other hand, I've already finished reading six books since the first of the year, and it's not even February yet! My eReader, the Nook, is kind of addictive. As my friend said about it last week: "It's like giving a crack pipe to a crack addict." I wouldn't know anything about that, but considering I love reading, it can be pretty dangerous to my wallet to have millions of books available to download at the click of a button. So yeah, I'd say I'm well on my way to reading 26 books and probably many more than that.
So what's new besides my
I went to DC for a conference about two weeks ago. I was gone for four full days and three nights, the longest I've been away from Charlotte thus far. It went really well, actually. I missed her of course, but I was happy to hear that Charlotte wasn't nearly as upset as when I went to Dallas last September. In fact, we video chatted every night. She was really cute about it -- Chris would prop his laptop in the playroom, and Charlotte would just play as though I were actually there. I'd ask her to get me a glass of water from her play kitchen, and she'd run over and bring me the glass of water. When I said goodnight to her, she even tried to kiss the computer. It was just so cute.
I made the mistake of telling a coworker that we can still take Charlotte to pretty much any restaurant. That very night we took Charlotte to a local Italian restaurant. It's not a super fancy place, but the other people who were there that night were clearly there for special occasions (an anniversary, a 50th birthday, etc.). Charlotte was okay in the beginning, especially when her food was served early. She ate fine, but as soon as our entrees arrived, she decided that being in her high chair was the absolute worst place she could be at that moment. It also didn't help that the people dining at the table next to ours remarked how good she was being (double karma time!). Whining and then screaming ensued. I took her outside and walked her around while Chris ate, and then we switched places. Ultimately, we decided to just grab our food to go and leave. The lesson here: before what you brag about because it will without a doubt come back to haunt you.
The moms in the Saturday working moms playgroup decided to have a "moms night out" on Friday. Four of us met up, and we found a nice little bistro with a wine bar/lounge attached. It's really nice to get to know new moms, especially without our babies in tow. I was starting to wonder if every mom in Folsom but me is a stay-at-home mom.
Finally, Charlotte has been super cute at bedtime. She has decided she won't kiss either of us unless Chris and I kiss each other first. After we kiss, Charlotte kisses Chris on the lips, then me, and then pushes us together to kiss again -- she actually grabs Chris' neck and my shoulder and makes us kiss. And then repeats the process over and over again until I'm laughing so hard I can't kiss anymore. What a silly goose.
Here's to more updating soon!
*No new pictures. I'm definitely failing at that resolution so far. I did, however, finally order a calendar of pictures of Charlotte from throughout last year, which is funny considering tomorrow is the last day of January. Oh well. I will keep trying!
Friday, July 16, 2010
And Now for Something Completely Different - Irrational Fears
This gal named Jen who has an adorable baby a few months older than Charlotte wrote this post talking about her irrational fear of cruise ships and then invited her readers to do the same.
I feel like I don't have a lot of fears, but here are a few:
I feel like I don't have a lot of fears, but here are a few:
- When I'm driving in downtown Sacramento and there are a lot of cars on the road, and there is a huge back-up at the light, I have this irrational fear that someone is going to open my car door and grab my purse from the passenger seat. So I've taken to locking my door when someone walks by (I never remember to just do it once I get in the car), but I try to do it surreptitiously, so they don't think I think they're a carjacker, but I totally do.
- Big dogs. I'm afraid they'll run me over or lick me to death.
- Along the same vein, I hate big crowds. I'm always worried that someone is going to steal my purse by doing that whole bump into me while someone else picks my pocket from behind (okay, so this isn't entirely irrational, since in college someone did steal my wallet out of my purse as I sat eating lunch).
- Don't even get close to touching my eyes. When I was in college, I once had an eye exam done at the optometry school on campus (it was $5!) and the optometry student was doing a check for glaucoma or something. While she was trying to touch my eye, I hyperventilated, which caused me to faint. She freaked out and call 9-1-1, which really freaked me out when I came to and there were all these firefighters surrounding me.
- Big trucks on the highway. I barely breathe while I'm passing them because I'm so worried they're going to just jump out in front of me.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Learning the Quirks
We’re five days in to living in our new home, and we’re starting to get an appreciation for both the really cool stuff and the not-so-cool stuff.
Cool:
- The pool. The pool is awesome, and
- The bike trails. Folsom has an amazing network of bike trails, the majority winding their way near creeks and around oak trees. I’m reminded that although it’s only
- The marshy parkway. The bike paths closest to our house wind through this really cool marshy area. I took
- Ceiling fans. We have ceiling fans in all of the rooms, something we couldn’t have in our old home because the ceilings were pretty low and the attic was so small. This has made a huge difference (see not-so-cool below).
- The big bathtub! We have a sizable bathtub in our master bathroom.
- Space. We obviously have oodles of space. Our master bedroom is so large, I don’t know what to do with the very ample sitting area. I guess we’ll have to invest in some nice reclining chairs at some point.
Not-so-Cool:
- Teenagers. One of the reasons we moved was because our old neighborhood is aging and there aren’t a lot of kids. There are plenty in Folsom. But apparently because our new home was built in 1990, there are plenty of teenagers living nearby. Now, this could be cool because we might have our pick of potential babysitters for
- Broken A/C. We’ve had an extraordinarily mild Spring so far this year so we haven’t had to turn on the air conditioning, but this weekend was the first hot one. Figures that it would be then that we discovered our A/C isn’t working. Luckily, we required that the sellers buy us a home warranty to cover any problems in the first year, so all we have to do is pay a service fee to get someone out here and look at the unit. Chris called yesterday morning and was promised a return call within 24 hours. By yesterday evening, we were baking. Chris called again and was told that the only way they could get us faster service was if the house was 105 degrees inside. 105? Please. We’d never be able to breathe. We were uncomfortable enough at 85. Chris played the young baby card, and our request was bumped up. We’ll have someone here tomorrow, but I can tell you that it is hot!! Fortunately, the ceiling fans and ample windows have helped some, but I still put
- Other weird things. The water heater is on the complete opposite end of the house from the master bath and kitchen. Therefore, it takes forever for the water to heat up, thereby wasting gallons in the process. This makes me feel horribly guilty, so maybe I should collect some of the water and use it to water the plants? That’s what my dad does, as my parents’ house in
- The carpet in the computer room smells horribly of wet dog or pee or worse. The sellers had two large dogs, but I never smelled anything when we were looking at the house. We had the carpets cleaned before we moved in, but I think it just brought those smells to the surface. Ick. I bought some powder to sprinkle in the carpet, but I can’t use it until we’ve unpacked the room and brought the vacuum back from the old house. If it doesn’t work, I may have to replace that carpeting sooner rather than later. (I can smell dog in the carpet in certain other rooms like the living room, and what was the sellers’ young son’s room, but not nearly as strongly as in that computer room). In the meantime, it is hard for me to stay in that room for very long.
- We have a lot of stairs as it’s a multi-level house. This doesn’t actually bother me at all, except for the fact that the house is much taller than our last. Yesterday, Tandy fell from the second story all the way down into the living room. We were really worried that she was hurt, but she seems fine. It was about a
- The commute. I have a long commute now, somewhere between 30 and 40 minutes without bad traffic. Chris has been the one with the long commute for ten years, but now it’s switched. I’m making it work by leaving for work at
On the whole we love our new house. I just hope we can meet some cool neighbors, ones that don’t think it’s fun to have parties into the wee hours of the night. (I realize this makes me so old and crotchety, but you’d feel the same way if you had no power over what time to wake up on weekends because of a baby. And now that I get up at 5:45 to get ready for work, I need my sleep!!).
One more fun story before we go. I mentioned that I had to take Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte
Monday, April 19, 2010
10 Months and Crusing
It's official. Charlotte is on the move! She now "cruises," meaning she stands herself up and walks while holding onto whatever - the coffee table, the sliding glass door, plenty of other things that are not stable at all, and I have to quickly dislodge those little fingers from their death-grip before she comes crashing down to the floor.
And yes, the crashing has happened. I know it's inevitable, and Chris and I try to prevent it as much as possible, but Charlotte is now falling and hitting her head/nose/knees on things. Most times, she just gets a stunned look on her face, not knowing exactly what just happened, but other times, the anguish, the face that immediately scrunches up and she starts wailing! The good news is that she's never upset for long. The bad news is that I'm exhausted.
Charlotte is a handful! She no longer loves being picked up, but instead pushes her feet off us to try and get put down. Remember when I lamented the fact that she only wanted to be held? Those days, and I am sad to admit it, are gone. She wants to crawl everywhere. She’s mastered the stairs (going up, we haven’t dared going down). She’s cut three teeth in the past month, and given the amount she’s been drooling I wouldn’t be surprised if she cuts three more teeth next month. Bye, bye Toothless Wonder!
Charlotte continues to just love everyone she meets. I’ve read that stranger anxiety is supposed to be common right now, but Charlotte has zero anxiety when it comes to other people. Case in point. I took her back to Funtastic yesterday, while the carpet guy was here to shampoo our carpets. There was only one other boy there when we first got there, and he was probably around five or six. Charlotte was obsessed. She would crawl to him, sit up, and then laugh. I think she was confused why he apparently could not care less. Then she tried to do the same thing with the boy’s dad. Later, she was tickled pink when this sweet girl, who was seven, lavished some attention on her.
On the housing front. Of course, our minds have been preoccupied with housing nonsense. We've spent the past couple of weeks prepping our house to put it on the market. I feel like every single moment has been go, go, go! But I have to admit, our house has never looked better. The carpets have been washed, we’ve packed up unnecessary junk, and we’ve moved extraneous furniture into the garage. I just hope that some buyer out there falls in love with it the same way we did almost five years ago. In fact, I've had to step back and try not to feel like throwing up when I think about how much money we've lost on house for no other reason than we bought it at the peak of the market. Because the fact of the matter is that the appraiser on the new house actually appraised it ten thousand dollars more than we bought it for. So that's gratifying and makes me feel a little better because in this market it is very rare for an appraiser to actually show that the home is worth more and not less! Instant equity!
We’ve also had to work double-time to find new daycare for Charlotte. Folsom is not the Pocket neighborhood. There are thousands of young children and only so many daycare spots. So we’ve had to deal with waitlists. Waitlists!!! Part of the issue is that we won’t need care for Charlotte until sometime in early June and because she’s turning one on June 19th, she’s in that weird transition period, meaning that she will be too young for the toddler room, but one of the oldest in the infant room. This has been a problem because in some instances there have been slots available in the infant room, but not the toddler room. Or vice versa. All in all, very stressful. However, I am happy to report that we’ve found daycare. It’s literally right around the corner from Chris’s job, and has easy freeway access for me. Plus, we loved the Assistant Director and the toddler playground. It wasn’t our first choice, which is actually where our friends’ son goes and where our other friends' daughter will eventually go. That place doesn’t have a spot available until September! Oh well, we’ll make a decision then about whether we want to move her. In the meantime, I’m happy with our choice.
So that’s what’s been going on here at the Berry household. Two more months until we celebrate Charlotte’s first birthday!
And yes, the crashing has happened. I know it's inevitable, and Chris and I try to prevent it as much as possible, but Charlotte is now falling and hitting her head/nose/knees on things. Most times, she just gets a stunned look on her face, not knowing exactly what just happened, but other times, the anguish, the face that immediately scrunches up and she starts wailing! The good news is that she's never upset for long. The bad news is that I'm exhausted.
Charlotte is a handful! She no longer loves being picked up, but instead pushes her feet off us to try and get put down. Remember when I lamented the fact that she only wanted to be held? Those days, and I am sad to admit it, are gone. She wants to crawl everywhere. She’s mastered the stairs (going up, we haven’t dared going down). She’s cut three teeth in the past month, and given the amount she’s been drooling I wouldn’t be surprised if she cuts three more teeth next month. Bye, bye Toothless Wonder!
Charlotte continues to just love everyone she meets. I’ve read that stranger anxiety is supposed to be common right now, but Charlotte has zero anxiety when it comes to other people. Case in point. I took her back to Funtastic yesterday, while the carpet guy was here to shampoo our carpets. There was only one other boy there when we first got there, and he was probably around five or six. Charlotte was obsessed. She would crawl to him, sit up, and then laugh. I think she was confused why he apparently could not care less. Then she tried to do the same thing with the boy’s dad. Later, she was tickled pink when this sweet girl, who was seven, lavished some attention on her.
On the housing front. Of course, our minds have been preoccupied with housing nonsense. We've spent the past couple of weeks prepping our house to put it on the market. I feel like every single moment has been go, go, go! But I have to admit, our house has never looked better. The carpets have been washed, we’ve packed up unnecessary junk, and we’ve moved extraneous furniture into the garage. I just hope that some buyer out there falls in love with it the same way we did almost five years ago. In fact, I've had to step back and try not to feel like throwing up when I think about how much money we've lost on house for no other reason than we bought it at the peak of the market. Because the fact of the matter is that the appraiser on the new house actually appraised it ten thousand dollars more than we bought it for. So that's gratifying and makes me feel a little better because in this market it is very rare for an appraiser to actually show that the home is worth more and not less! Instant equity!
We’ve also had to work double-time to find new daycare for Charlotte. Folsom is not the Pocket neighborhood. There are thousands of young children and only so many daycare spots. So we’ve had to deal with waitlists. Waitlists!!! Part of the issue is that we won’t need care for Charlotte until sometime in early June and because she’s turning one on June 19th, she’s in that weird transition period, meaning that she will be too young for the toddler room, but one of the oldest in the infant room. This has been a problem because in some instances there have been slots available in the infant room, but not the toddler room. Or vice versa. All in all, very stressful. However, I am happy to report that we’ve found daycare. It’s literally right around the corner from Chris’s job, and has easy freeway access for me. Plus, we loved the Assistant Director and the toddler playground. It wasn’t our first choice, which is actually where our friends’ son goes and where our other friends' daughter will eventually go. That place doesn’t have a spot available until September! Oh well, we’ll make a decision then about whether we want to move her. In the meantime, I’m happy with our choice.
So that’s what’s been going on here at the Berry household. Two more months until we celebrate Charlotte’s first birthday!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Baby Talk
Before I had a baby of my own, I always rolled my eyes when I saw other parents speaking in "Baby Talk" to their babies.* I mean, Jeez, I would think, why can't they speak to them in a normal voice? How will they ever learn to speak normally when they're older?
That, of course, all changed when Charlotte was born. Suddenly, everything that came out of my mouth was "cutesy." Socks became "sockies," feet became "feeties," naps became "nappy-naps," etc. Because the fact is, Charlotte (and most babies, I imagine) responds a lot better when we speak in high-pitched, sing-songy voices.
And I'm not alone in this change in diction. Chris, too, has made the switch to Baby Speak. But maybe to an extreme. Case in point: One night when we were in Chicago, we had just put Charlotte to bed ("nighty-night!") and were settling into an episode of Lost on my laptop. It was getting late, so Chris turned to me and said, "Okay, Stephanie. Time for sleepy-sleep." I turned to him and promptly punched him in the neck.**
*So I have to insert the caveat that I have been talking to my cats in baby voices for forever. I blame my mom.
** I didn't punch him, but I did say, "Um, you did NOT just say 'sleepy-sleep' to me!" And then I relentlessly made fun of him. Hence this post. :) (Sorry Sweetie - it's just too good to pass up!).
That, of course, all changed when Charlotte was born. Suddenly, everything that came out of my mouth was "cutesy." Socks became "sockies," feet became "feeties," naps became "nappy-naps," etc. Because the fact is, Charlotte (and most babies, I imagine) responds a lot better when we speak in high-pitched, sing-songy voices.
And I'm not alone in this change in diction. Chris, too, has made the switch to Baby Speak. But maybe to an extreme. Case in point: One night when we were in Chicago, we had just put Charlotte to bed ("nighty-night!") and were settling into an episode of Lost on my laptop. It was getting late, so Chris turned to me and said, "Okay, Stephanie. Time for sleepy-sleep." I turned to him and promptly punched him in the neck.**
*So I have to insert the caveat that I have been talking to my cats in baby voices for forever. I blame my mom.
** I didn't punch him, but I did say, "Um, you did NOT just say 'sleepy-sleep' to me!" And then I relentlessly made fun of him. Hence this post. :) (Sorry Sweetie - it's just too good to pass up!).
Friday, September 25, 2009
Senator Meanie Pants
Hi Internets!
Charlotte here. I don't talk a lot yet, but I wanted to let you know about something important to my mommy and me. My mommy tells me she had excellent doctors and nurses who helped me get born, but that not all mommies have access to good health care.
A mean man out there, Sen. Jon Kyl from some place called Arizona, says that health insurance companies shouldn't be required to cover mommies like mine, who are going to have or have had cute babies like me. And even though Mommy didn't have one, other mommies who have had C-sections can be denied health insurance because it's considered a pre-existing condition. I don't know quite what that means, but it doesn't seem right!
The National Women's Law Center (sounds important!) wants you other mommies or future mommies or daddies, or grammies or aunties, to send baby pictures to Senator Meanie Pants. I did. And I sent a cute picture at that.
Now it's time for a nap!
Charlotte here. I don't talk a lot yet, but I wanted to let you know about something important to my mommy and me. My mommy tells me she had excellent doctors and nurses who helped me get born, but that not all mommies have access to good health care.
A mean man out there, Sen. Jon Kyl from some place called Arizona, says that health insurance companies shouldn't be required to cover mommies like mine, who are going to have or have had cute babies like me. And even though Mommy didn't have one, other mommies who have had C-sections can be denied health insurance because it's considered a pre-existing condition. I don't know quite what that means, but it doesn't seem right!
The National Women's Law Center (sounds important!) wants you other mommies or future mommies or daddies, or grammies or aunties, to send baby pictures to Senator Meanie Pants. I did. And I sent a cute picture at that.
Now it's time for a nap!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Stepping on my Soap Box
I'm taking a break from my normal pregnancy-related rants to write about something I watched that really made me think.
Last night, I had the opportunity to see a sneak preview of Food Inc., a documentary about the corporate food industry in the United States. It was shown at the Crest Theatre and was sponsored by the local Humane Society and State Senator Dean Florez. And of course, how can I fail to mention the two super celebrity guests in attendance, Alice Waters (founder of Berkeley's esteemed Chez Panisse restaurant) and Martin Sheen, one of my favorite actors/activists.
The movie was difficult to watch at times and it made me angry, just as Mr. Sheen said it would. The entire way that food is made in this country is degrading -- not only to the animals, but to the workers and the environment. In the past and what is still the case in Europe, although that too is changing rapidly due to globalization, people would buy what they needed at local markets. Today, the average grocery store sells upwards of 50,000 products. And while that may seem like a lot of consumer choice, a handful of major food companies own most of those.
The point of the documentary is not to make someone become vegetarian, but to make people think about where their food actually comes from. Guaranteed that those ads showing happy cows eating grass are meant to deceive -- the majority of dairy cattle and cattle raised for consumption are from massive factory farms. Anyone who knows me knows that I enjoy food -- I love to cook and I love to go out for good meals. I've defended eating meat, basically thinking it's an all or nothing proposition. Making a decision to eat meat, in my opinion, meant eating any kind of meat (what makes not taking the life of a cow more acceptable than taking the life of a chicken?). But the film definitely made me think -- because every time you buy something at the grocery store, you're making your preferences known. So if I can try to eat meat less, while at the same time making a conscious decision to eat meat raised in sustainable ways, I can be a more conscientious food consumer.
The real problem I have and what was made abundantly clear from the film, is that because the government heavily subsidizes certain so-called commodity producers (corn and soybean conglomerates for example), food that is not healthy is often much cheaper. So a poor family can spend a dollar and get a burger from a fast food restaurant, or they can buy half a pound of broccoli. What would you choose with your one dollar? One wonders why obesity generally is skewed toward the poor and people of color. I am lucky that I can use my income to make my food preferences known, but what about those who have very few choices to make with their limited income? What policy decisions can we make to give people, particularly those with limited incomes, the option to buy fresh fruits and vegetables over French fries and hamburgers?
So anyway, the movie won't be widespread in theaters until mid-June, but I encourage all of you to go and see it. It was eye-opening, particularly as someone who is about to become a parent for the first time. When I heard that a third of children born after 2000 will develop Type 2 diabetes, it scared me. I want my children to be healthy and to make the right decisions, but I also acknowledge that it's an up hill battle. After seeing this film, I know I will try to read food labels more and vote with my wallet. And who knows? Chris and I have already talked about eating less meat and more vegetables -- maybe we should implement Meatless Mondays like The Omnivore's Dilemma author Michael Pollan.
Last night, I had the opportunity to see a sneak preview of Food Inc., a documentary about the corporate food industry in the United States. It was shown at the Crest Theatre and was sponsored by the local Humane Society and State Senator Dean Florez. And of course, how can I fail to mention the two super celebrity guests in attendance, Alice Waters (founder of Berkeley's esteemed Chez Panisse restaurant) and Martin Sheen, one of my favorite actors/activists.
The movie was difficult to watch at times and it made me angry, just as Mr. Sheen said it would. The entire way that food is made in this country is degrading -- not only to the animals, but to the workers and the environment. In the past and what is still the case in Europe, although that too is changing rapidly due to globalization, people would buy what they needed at local markets. Today, the average grocery store sells upwards of 50,000 products. And while that may seem like a lot of consumer choice, a handful of major food companies own most of those.
The point of the documentary is not to make someone become vegetarian, but to make people think about where their food actually comes from. Guaranteed that those ads showing happy cows eating grass are meant to deceive -- the majority of dairy cattle and cattle raised for consumption are from massive factory farms. Anyone who knows me knows that I enjoy food -- I love to cook and I love to go out for good meals. I've defended eating meat, basically thinking it's an all or nothing proposition. Making a decision to eat meat, in my opinion, meant eating any kind of meat (what makes not taking the life of a cow more acceptable than taking the life of a chicken?). But the film definitely made me think -- because every time you buy something at the grocery store, you're making your preferences known. So if I can try to eat meat less, while at the same time making a conscious decision to eat meat raised in sustainable ways, I can be a more conscientious food consumer.
The real problem I have and what was made abundantly clear from the film, is that because the government heavily subsidizes certain so-called commodity producers (corn and soybean conglomerates for example), food that is not healthy is often much cheaper. So a poor family can spend a dollar and get a burger from a fast food restaurant, or they can buy half a pound of broccoli. What would you choose with your one dollar? One wonders why obesity generally is skewed toward the poor and people of color. I am lucky that I can use my income to make my food preferences known, but what about those who have very few choices to make with their limited income? What policy decisions can we make to give people, particularly those with limited incomes, the option to buy fresh fruits and vegetables over French fries and hamburgers?
So anyway, the movie won't be widespread in theaters until mid-June, but I encourage all of you to go and see it. It was eye-opening, particularly as someone who is about to become a parent for the first time. When I heard that a third of children born after 2000 will develop Type 2 diabetes, it scared me. I want my children to be healthy and to make the right decisions, but I also acknowledge that it's an up hill battle. After seeing this film, I know I will try to read food labels more and vote with my wallet. And who knows? Chris and I have already talked about eating less meat and more vegetables -- maybe we should implement Meatless Mondays like The Omnivore's Dilemma author Michael Pollan.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Crazy Baby Boards
Okay, so the baby boards online are like a train wreck. You want to stay away and stop looking, but you just can't. What I've realized is that you don't need any sorts of qualifications to have a baby. People have them all the time -- degree, no degree, job, no job, money, no money. What I really don't understand is why pregnant women turn to other completely clueless pregnant women for advice.
These are a few of the more ridiculous questions that I've come across in the past few months (no editing of these):
1) Could iceing my crotch give baby brain freeze?
* A responder told her, tongue-in-cheek obviously, to swallow a sweater. Another said "oh and if you eat soup, you'll give your baby third degree burns!"
2) I might sound dumb asking this question but my favourite movie is out today "Wolverine"!! I was wondering can I go the movie theatre or is it way too loud?? I am afraid it's too noisy for the womb....am I over reacting??
*Surprisingly the answers weren't "you're nuts," but just don't sit too close to the speakers. I should have responded, you should go, but put ear muffs on your belly.
3) My wife is due with our first on June 16. We are having a boy and are very excited. I have been reading the posts on here for a while and haven't seen this question yet. Since this is our first my wife have breastfed yet and we are just wondering at what point do the breasts get the hole in them. I didn't know how to word that any better.
*I just really can't react to this one at all.
And of course the piece de resistance (I'm paraphrasing b/c I don't have the link anymore):
4) I'm 9 weeks pregnant and wondering what birth control you're using now because don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be pregnant, but I don't want to get pregnant again.
*There were hundreds of responses to this, mostly in the form of you obviously don't know your body at all. But what really got me was when the poster then responded, I don't understand why all of you are reacting this way - Irish Twins is a real thing. It's when you have children less than 12 months apart, which can only mean that you're not done being pregnant with the first before becoming pregnant with the next. To which one person responded, yeah, but you're not pregnant for a YEAR!
Anyway, I just felt like I should share these. I know it's probably bad of me, but I can't help feeling just a tad bit more prepared for labor, breastfeeding, taking care of a real-life human being... and yes, just a little bit smug.
These are a few of the more ridiculous questions that I've come across in the past few months (no editing of these):
1) Could iceing my crotch give baby brain freeze?
* A responder told her, tongue-in-cheek obviously, to swallow a sweater. Another said "oh and if you eat soup, you'll give your baby third degree burns!"
2) I might sound dumb asking this question but my favourite movie is out today "Wolverine"!! I was wondering can I go the movie theatre or is it way too loud?? I am afraid it's too noisy for the womb....am I over reacting??
*Surprisingly the answers weren't "you're nuts," but just don't sit too close to the speakers. I should have responded, you should go, but put ear muffs on your belly.
3) My wife is due with our first on June 16. We are having a boy and are very excited. I have been reading the posts on here for a while and haven't seen this question yet. Since this is our first my wife have breastfed yet and we are just wondering at what point do the breasts get the hole in them. I didn't know how to word that any better.
*I just really can't react to this one at all.
And of course the piece de resistance (I'm paraphrasing b/c I don't have the link anymore):
4) I'm 9 weeks pregnant and wondering what birth control you're using now because don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be pregnant, but I don't want to get pregnant again.
*There were hundreds of responses to this, mostly in the form of you obviously don't know your body at all. But what really got me was when the poster then responded, I don't understand why all of you are reacting this way - Irish Twins is a real thing. It's when you have children less than 12 months apart, which can only mean that you're not done being pregnant with the first before becoming pregnant with the next. To which one person responded, yeah, but you're not pregnant for a YEAR!
Anyway, I just felt like I should share these. I know it's probably bad of me, but I can't help feeling just a tad bit more prepared for labor, breastfeeding, taking care of a real-life human being... and yes, just a little bit smug.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
The End of the School Year
When you were in grade school, weren't the last few weeks intolerable? Now, to be perfectly honest, I loved school, but I couldn't help but be SO excited for the end of the school year to come. Sure, it came with finals, but it also came with end-of-year parties, yearbook signings, and the prospect of a carefree summer with no responsibilities. No wonder children can't concentrate at this point in the school year, as my mother and all teachers can readily attest!
It just dawned on me that this pregnancy is EXACTLY like a school year. Of course, in my particular case, my pregnancy actually coincides with the traditional school year. It started sometime in early September and ends sometime (earlier I hope?) in mid-June. And just like the start of the school year, I was excited, energized about being pregnant at first. Then, mid-way through, I sort of got into the swing of things and accepted that I really was pregnant. Now, six weeks from the end, I feel like I've been pregnant FOREVER! I'm antsy, I can't concentrate on anything, I have June 11th circled on my calendar, and I'm counting down the days (42 to go baby!). And I imagine that at the end, when I just want to throw in the towel and maybe take an incomplete, I'll have to pull an all-nighter to get it done (and no, I've actually never pulled an all-nighter, I cherish my sleep). This time, instead of working for that "A" grade, I'll have a cute baby girl to love. And I'm betting my summer vacation won't really be much of a vacation this time around, although it will be nice to be off work for 4 months.
On a side note, it will have been 10 years on June 9th that I graduated from high school. Amazing to think that I might be a mother by that point!
And yes, I do need to take another belly shot. Many of my shirts simply won't cover my ever-expanding belly, but at this point, I refuse to spend more money on maternity clothes. I'll just have to make do for a few weeks more.
It just dawned on me that this pregnancy is EXACTLY like a school year. Of course, in my particular case, my pregnancy actually coincides with the traditional school year. It started sometime in early September and ends sometime (earlier I hope?) in mid-June. And just like the start of the school year, I was excited, energized about being pregnant at first. Then, mid-way through, I sort of got into the swing of things and accepted that I really was pregnant. Now, six weeks from the end, I feel like I've been pregnant FOREVER! I'm antsy, I can't concentrate on anything, I have June 11th circled on my calendar, and I'm counting down the days (42 to go baby!). And I imagine that at the end, when I just want to throw in the towel and maybe take an incomplete, I'll have to pull an all-nighter to get it done (and no, I've actually never pulled an all-nighter, I cherish my sleep). This time, instead of working for that "A" grade, I'll have a cute baby girl to love. And I'm betting my summer vacation won't really be much of a vacation this time around, although it will be nice to be off work for 4 months.
On a side note, it will have been 10 years on June 9th that I graduated from high school. Amazing to think that I might be a mother by that point!
And yes, I do need to take another belly shot. Many of my shirts simply won't cover my ever-expanding belly, but at this point, I refuse to spend more money on maternity clothes. I'll just have to make do for a few weeks more.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Take That Jury Duty Gods!
About a month ago, I received the dreaded jury summons in the mail. At first, I expected to just send a notice giving me a postponement because well, hello! I've swallowed a watermelon! But, it would have required a doctor's note, and I would have only been excused for 90 days. 90 Days at the time was right before my due date, so I didn't want to go through it all again.
My week to check in was this Monday, April 6th. I checked the handy website last Friday and was told to check back after 5PM on Tuesday. So I checked back last night and was told to check back at 11:15AM for a possible 1PM Wednesday report. So I just checked back and my service is complete! I don't have to postpone and I won't be called back for at least a year!
Although this is great news, I now have all these excuses rolling around in my head that I was just dying to use with the clerk:
My week to check in was this Monday, April 6th. I checked the handy website last Friday and was told to check back after 5PM on Tuesday. So I checked back last night and was told to check back at 11:15AM for a possible 1PM Wednesday report. So I just checked back and my service is complete! I don't have to postpone and I won't be called back for at least a year!
Although this is great news, I now have all these excuses rolling around in my head that I was just dying to use with the clerk:
- I have to pee every 30 minutes, therefore it might be better if the trial was conducted in the ladies' restroom.
- I stole a basketball, stuffed it under my shirt, and the bailiff might end up booking me for theft of sports equipment.
- My baby is so active that you might have 13 on the jury panel instead of 12.
- I'm hungry all the time, so unless the Judge is willing to share his Milky Way Bar, things might get ugly.
And if this didn't work, I had some excuses ready for the prosecutor and defense attorney:
- Can I be objective? Um, I cried when Aretha Franklin sang "My Country 'Tis of Thee" at the Inauguration. What do you think?
- I can't sit for 4 straight hours -- I might end up being like John McCain during the second presidential debate when he walked all around the town hall like some poor, lost old man.
- I can't stay focused on the trial when the alien lifeform inside me is kicking my spleen.
- Said alien lifeform inhabiting my body may cause me to yelp out in pain, and I really don't want the judge to gavel me to come to order.
So, in conclusion, the jury duty gods must have foreseen that I was going to be a major pain in the rear. Still, I might just keep that basketball handy...
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Your Life Will Totally Change!
I know I'm missing my bi-monthly belly shot, but I just got back from a work trip to Los Angeles, so it will have to wait until tomorrow (when I'm 25 weeks).
24 Week Appointment
First things first. I had my 24 week appointment on Monday, right before I left for the airport. The baby, based on my fundal height (26 cms) is measuring about a week ahead. The fundal height (how long the uterus is) amazingly corresponds to how far along you are. Last time at just 20 weeks, I was measuring 21 cms. This time, just past 24 weeks and I'm at 26. I doubt this means that my due date will be moved up any. Baby's heartbeat is great, although she was kicking and moving all over the place so it took some time to get an accurate reading.
I love my midwife. She's really nice and takes the time to answer all my questions, and I had a lot this time around. 1) I asked if the new Labor & Delivery site where I'll be delivering has a midwife on staff 24/7? Yes -- and as long as the baby is okay, you don't even have to be hooked up to an IV, you're free to walk around, take a shower, etc. 2) What about my hobbit feet? A: Eat more protein. Also see if you can keep your feet up at work. (I'm not sure how the last one would work out considering it's kind of hard to do that in front of a computer). 3) How's my weight gain? (I'm at 25 lbs, still blazing ahead at 1 lb a week) A: It's not totally over the top, otherwise I'd be scolding you right now. You're probably just the type of woman who's going to gain 35 or 40 lbs.
Random Strangers
This was the first plane trip I've been on since I went to Orlando for a conference back in October (I was only 7 weeks back then and obviously not showing). It's only an hour-long flight to L.A. from Sacramento, but it seemed longer and definitely more tiring. It's also kind of amazing the comments I'm getting now from complete strangers. The security guard asked if I wanted to skip the metal detector and do the wand instead -- I declined. I went through it in about a second, so I didn't see the point in being wanded when it would take 50 times longer.
Later, as I was riding the elevator at the hotel, the bell hop offered me his congratulations. I'm still a bit taken aback from the attention, and I like to ride the elevator in peace, so I don't really know how to respond except a mumbled "thanks." And as I was at a conference with members, I definitely got the full gamut of questions: when are you due? is this your first baby? boy or girl?
But I think what really threw me for a loop was waiting in line to board the plane. I somehow scored the first available seat on So.uth.west despite checking in this morning. The following conversation with the guy behind me ensued when we were positioning ourselves in line to board:
Guy: What number are you?
Me: A 16
Guy: Hmm. I'm A 17. I don't know how that happened. I checked in last night at exactly 6:30PM.
Me: Well, you're really going to hate me when I tell you that I didn't remember to check in until this morning.
Guy: I do hate you. Guffaw guffaw. They must have known you were pregnant. When are you due?
Me: June.
Guy: Oh. Wow. You've still got a long ways to go. That's great. Your first?
Me: Yep.
Guy: Well your life will totally change.
Me: Mmm hmmm. I guess you could say it's already changing.
Guy: Well, it's really going to change. But it's fun. But your life's going to change.
Me: Mmmm. Umm, we're boarding now.
He and I hand the lady our boarding passes and walk to the plane, and he's still talking the entire time. This is at the Bur.bank airport, which requires you to go outside and you can board the plane from the front and from the back. I start walking up the stairs at the front while weird guy tells me: "you know you can board the back, don't you?" Yeah, but with my prime boarding number, don't you think I'd rather deplane first in Sacramento??? Thank goodness, he went to the back. I didn't see him again. A nice man helped get my luggage in the overhead compartment.
Anyway, I'm not sure why I was so bothered by this guy telling me that having a baby will change my life because friends and colleagues have told me the same. And isn't it pretty obvious that things will never be the same? I guess it's probably because it's some random man, who thinks that he has all of this advice despite the fact that he's never been pregnant before. Blerg.
On another, somewhat-related note, the CEO of my organization came up to me yesterday morning at the conference and said. "Stephanie! Wow, you're really starting to show!" I just had to laugh, because umm yeah, hasn't it already been kind of obvious???
24 Week Appointment
First things first. I had my 24 week appointment on Monday, right before I left for the airport. The baby, based on my fundal height (26 cms) is measuring about a week ahead. The fundal height (how long the uterus is) amazingly corresponds to how far along you are. Last time at just 20 weeks, I was measuring 21 cms. This time, just past 24 weeks and I'm at 26. I doubt this means that my due date will be moved up any. Baby's heartbeat is great, although she was kicking and moving all over the place so it took some time to get an accurate reading.
I love my midwife. She's really nice and takes the time to answer all my questions, and I had a lot this time around. 1) I asked if the new Labor & Delivery site where I'll be delivering has a midwife on staff 24/7? Yes -- and as long as the baby is okay, you don't even have to be hooked up to an IV, you're free to walk around, take a shower, etc. 2) What about my hobbit feet? A: Eat more protein. Also see if you can keep your feet up at work. (I'm not sure how the last one would work out considering it's kind of hard to do that in front of a computer). 3) How's my weight gain? (I'm at 25 lbs, still blazing ahead at 1 lb a week) A: It's not totally over the top, otherwise I'd be scolding you right now. You're probably just the type of woman who's going to gain 35 or 40 lbs.
Random Strangers
This was the first plane trip I've been on since I went to Orlando for a conference back in October (I was only 7 weeks back then and obviously not showing). It's only an hour-long flight to L.A. from Sacramento, but it seemed longer and definitely more tiring. It's also kind of amazing the comments I'm getting now from complete strangers. The security guard asked if I wanted to skip the metal detector and do the wand instead -- I declined. I went through it in about a second, so I didn't see the point in being wanded when it would take 50 times longer.
Later, as I was riding the elevator at the hotel, the bell hop offered me his congratulations. I'm still a bit taken aback from the attention, and I like to ride the elevator in peace, so I don't really know how to respond except a mumbled "thanks." And as I was at a conference with members, I definitely got the full gamut of questions: when are you due? is this your first baby? boy or girl?
But I think what really threw me for a loop was waiting in line to board the plane. I somehow scored the first available seat on So.uth.west despite checking in this morning. The following conversation with the guy behind me ensued when we were positioning ourselves in line to board:
Guy: What number are you?
Me: A 16
Guy: Hmm. I'm A 17. I don't know how that happened. I checked in last night at exactly 6:30PM.
Me: Well, you're really going to hate me when I tell you that I didn't remember to check in until this morning.
Guy: I do hate you. Guffaw guffaw. They must have known you were pregnant. When are you due?
Me: June.
Guy: Oh. Wow. You've still got a long ways to go. That's great. Your first?
Me: Yep.
Guy: Well your life will totally change.
Me: Mmm hmmm. I guess you could say it's already changing.
Guy: Well, it's really going to change. But it's fun. But your life's going to change.
Me: Mmmm. Umm, we're boarding now.
He and I hand the lady our boarding passes and walk to the plane, and he's still talking the entire time. This is at the Bur.bank airport, which requires you to go outside and you can board the plane from the front and from the back. I start walking up the stairs at the front while weird guy tells me: "you know you can board the back, don't you?" Yeah, but with my prime boarding number, don't you think I'd rather deplane first in Sacramento??? Thank goodness, he went to the back. I didn't see him again. A nice man helped get my luggage in the overhead compartment.
Anyway, I'm not sure why I was so bothered by this guy telling me that having a baby will change my life because friends and colleagues have told me the same. And isn't it pretty obvious that things will never be the same? I guess it's probably because it's some random man, who thinks that he has all of this advice despite the fact that he's never been pregnant before. Blerg.
On another, somewhat-related note, the CEO of my organization came up to me yesterday morning at the conference and said. "Stephanie! Wow, you're really starting to show!" I just had to laugh, because umm yeah, hasn't it already been kind of obvious???
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Incubators of Future Generations
I work on federal health policy for my organization, and one of the issues I've been following since I started in late 2007 is the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. SCHIP, as it's known, is a joint federal-state program that covers kids who make too much for Medicaid. It's a great program and has been highly successful in covering kids who would otherwise be uninsured. Of course, President Bush vetoed the bill twice in 2007 because too many kids would get on the government dole and that would be one step closer to government-run health insurance (oh the horror! let's not forget that our veterans, returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, get government-run coverage from the VA and it's not only high-quality, it's cost-effective!).
Those two vetoes alone deserve a much longer rant from me, but I won't start because thankfully there's a new sheriff in town! Yes, that's right. One of the first bills signed into law by President Obama was the reauthorization and expansion of CHIP (they dropped the State from S-CHIP, so it's only CHIP now). Among other great provisions, newly arrived legal immigrant pregnant women and children can get coverage under Medicaid and CHIP. This is a great win for California, which has been covering this population using state-only funds since the law requiring a 5 year waiting period for new immigrants was passed in 1996. It's also one that our members advocated with their representatives last year at our annual lobbying even in DC.
On Tuesday, I attended a briefing and reception on the reauthorization of CHIP and heard from the person who oversees the program in California. She said that apart from covering legal immigrant children, undocumented pregnant women will still get coverage under Medicaid and CHIP (with state funds) because they are, and I quote, "considered vessels for future U.S. citizens." Now, I have no problem with the idea behind this because I believe it's better to have healthy pregnant women and, by extension, healthy future citizen babies. Costs to the healthcare system will be much higher if we don't cover these, ahem, incubators of U.S. citizens.
However, I couldn't help but laugh a little bit and wonder, am I too only good for my ability to incubate a future U.S. citizen (or French citizen, since Baby Berry will qualify for both)? Almost feels jingoistic when you think about it, as if the intention is to bear healthy citizens to build up the strength of our nation in the form of a new generation of soldiers. Okay, maybe not, but it sounds like it could be the plot for a new science fiction novel.
I'll get started writing that right away.
Those two vetoes alone deserve a much longer rant from me, but I won't start because thankfully there's a new sheriff in town! Yes, that's right. One of the first bills signed into law by President Obama was the reauthorization and expansion of CHIP (they dropped the State from S-CHIP, so it's only CHIP now). Among other great provisions, newly arrived legal immigrant pregnant women and children can get coverage under Medicaid and CHIP. This is a great win for California, which has been covering this population using state-only funds since the law requiring a 5 year waiting period for new immigrants was passed in 1996. It's also one that our members advocated with their representatives last year at our annual lobbying even in DC.
On Tuesday, I attended a briefing and reception on the reauthorization of CHIP and heard from the person who oversees the program in California. She said that apart from covering legal immigrant children, undocumented pregnant women will still get coverage under Medicaid and CHIP (with state funds) because they are, and I quote, "considered vessels for future U.S. citizens." Now, I have no problem with the idea behind this because I believe it's better to have healthy pregnant women and, by extension, healthy future citizen babies. Costs to the healthcare system will be much higher if we don't cover these, ahem, incubators of U.S. citizens.
However, I couldn't help but laugh a little bit and wonder, am I too only good for my ability to incubate a future U.S. citizen (or French citizen, since Baby Berry will qualify for both)? Almost feels jingoistic when you think about it, as if the intention is to bear healthy citizens to build up the strength of our nation in the form of a new generation of soldiers. Okay, maybe not, but it sounds like it could be the plot for a new science fiction novel.
I'll get started writing that right away.
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