Birthdays, Beach, Trampolines, etc

I turned 32. I feel old.

We went to the flea market.  We found an extra-wide baby gate for $10.  Score!  After that we got burgers at The Habit.  There was a Radio Shack closing sale, and we found a few good deals there.  We came home so Bertie could nap.  We ran a couple errands, and then went to Red Lobster for dinner.  Bertie ate crab, shrimp and a whole lemon slice.  (He's weird).  Aaron and Bertie got me gift certificates for massages.  And we had ice cream cake after dinner.

Monday was (hopefully) the hottest day of the week.  So I'd planned to take Bertie to Santa Cruz.  That morning I caught him eating out of the trash can (moldy blackberries, and an apricot pit in the other hand).  Before hitting the road we ran into Bed, Bath and Beyond to look for a new trash can (one that he can't get into).  But, the ones that might work were at least $160.  No thanks.
We headed over the hill, Bertie napped the whole way.  I put him in his rash guard, and we walked down to the beach.  We stopped at a small inlet, and he splashed around.  That water was warm, shallow, and slow moving, so he was happy.  After that we walked along the water.  I had him in a sling, he liked looking at the ocean, and seeing all the kids and dogs.  I stood him in front of me, so the waves could wash on us.  I held his left hand, in his right he was clutching my sunglasses like a security blanket.  He liked the waves, as long as I held him tight.
I realized I should have brought a change of clothes for me.  I didn't think about it, but I was all wet and sandy.  Bertie didn't like getting changed, he wanted to nurse a lot (so we did).  Then we went to Marianne's to get ice cream.  I got the bigger scoop, because usually Bertie can't get enough.  But I couldn't even get him to take a bite!

On Tuesday we went to Rockin' Tots at the trampoline gym.  I had a lot of fun, I love trampolines.  Bertie wasn't too sure.  He liked the blocks from the foam pit, but not actually being in the foam pit.  Mostly, he just wanted to got down the stairs (which I didn't pay $15 for us to do).  He did crawl off the edge into the foam pit a couple times. I think once he can walk he'll have more fun.

Today is grandma's 91st birthday.  We got together with the family and had dinner.  Bertie had pineapple for the first time, he ate pickled beets, some shrimp, and bread.  He also (possibly) took a step, just one, from the table to Janet.  I missed it, of course.
Earlier today something unusual happened: it rained!  It's been a lot time since it rained, and it came down pretty good for a while.  Before the rain, I put Bertram on my back and mowed the lawns.  I tried to shower with him after, but he didn't like that, so we bathed instead.  After the bath, he wanted to nurse.  We did skin to skin, and nursed.  Then he peed on me, and the bed.  I'd just changed the sheets yesterday, fortunately we have a waterproof mattress cover. I started the laundry, then we ran a couple errands.

Thoughts on parenting and life this week

I was thinking about parenting a little bit.  And it seems like parenting (at least for me, with a little guy) is all about extremes.  Like huge highs and lows.  More joy than you ever thought you could feel.  More frustrated that you thought.  More bored than you thought you would be with a newborn.  More love than you knew you had capacity for.  And more empathy.  (I swore I wouldn't cry when Bertie got his shots, and I think I've cried almost every time).  Anyway, blah, blah, blah.  Rachel waxes philosophical.

I have exercised all three days this week!  Baby steps, but I am going to get fit.  Aaron and I were talking about baby #2.  We thought we could start now, but I want us both to be in better shape (me, especially).  I don't want to have to lose 40+ lbs next time.  So the goal is to be back in the 140s by Feb 2016.  (I'm currently in the 180s, so I have a way to go). Hopefully Bertie will wean before too long, then I can get on Adderall again.

I made really good burgers for dinner tonight.  I had ground pork, and ground beef chorizo that I needed to use.  I mixed them together, and it was really good.  A little spicy, but Bertie ate 1/3 of a burger.  I also chose an awesome watermelon!  Huge, and only $4.

Bertie is a lot of fun lately, but super challenging.  He's into everything!  Dog food, dog water, pantry cabinet, pots and pans, and the fridge when he can get in it.  He loves unrolling toilet paper, tearing tissues and newspapers.  He love water.  I'm going to find out about free swim and mommy baby swim lessons at the local city pool.  Also, some of the splash pads (at city parks) are still open, in spite of the drought. So I need look around and see which local ones are open.  I'm trying to fine some fun and different things for him to do.  We went to the park today, after my walk/jog.  He still loves the swings, and now he loves the slide.

I've been watching True Detective.  I think I have 1 or 2 episodes left.

Mom of the Year

This morning:
I was looking up some exercises, and Bertie was right next to me.  He was pushing his walker around.  Then he fell over.  Not unusual, he's learning to walk, he falls over a lot.  But he fell over, and landed head first on a dog comb.

(The dog comb was on a low shelf, but Bertram loves taking every thing off shelves and putting it on the floor. The comb has since been locked away in the child-proof cabinet.)

So he fell sideways, and the comb hit right behind his ear.  And much to my horror was still in his head as he sat up.  He was screaming, of course.  I very gently removed the comb, and inspected his scalp.  It actually didn't look too bad.  Just two little puncture holes, neither were really bleeding.  I nursed him until he calmed down, which didn't take long.  Then I ran down the street to my MiL's house to get her opinion.  She said it would probably be ok, and to keep an eye on it.  I came back, cleaned his head with rubbing alcohol, and put bacitracin on it.  Then I called the advice nurse.  She said I did the right thing, and to keep an eye out for concussion symptoms for the next 24 hours.

So yep, mom of the year over here. -_-

Vacation in Virginia

We're about halfway through our trip. :-(

The flights: We flew from San Jose to Boston to Richmond.  We (Bertie and I, Aaron stayed home) had a red eye to Boston.  Bertie did pretty well, he slept most of the flight.  Follow passengers commented on how well he did.  (Our flight was only 2/3 full, so the middle seat in our row was empty).  He was awake when we got to Boston.  I changed him, and there was a little playground right by the bathroom, so he got to play for a few minutes.  He loved looking out the windows at the planes and trucks. The flight to Richmond was really empty, there were maybe 20 people in a 96 seat plane.  We had a lot of room, which was good, because he would not sit still.

Sleep: Mr Bertram has not been sleeping very well.  He's having separation anxiety about sleeping in an unfirmilar place.  I've been waiting in the room while he falls asleep, which seems to help.  He's been napping in the car, or on one of us (me, my sister, nana or papa).  This morning my sister came and took Bertie at 7am, so I could sleep.  (Happy mothers day!)

What we've been up to: Lots of visiting, and just hanging out.  We went to see Nanny, aunt Debbie, uncle Martin, (cousin) Abigail, and her hubby Nick.  We're going to see the other Pace's tomorrow.  Rebecca stayed at my mom's house all week so we could hang out.  We've been having a lot of fun.  My mom bought a paddle pool for Bertie, he's used it almost every day.  He loves it!  Today Rebecca and I went to Duck Donuts.  All the donuts are made to order: meaning the fry them when you order, and do the toppings right them.  I got Bertie a plain glazed, and I had maple bacon. O.M.G.  It was the BEST donut I've ever had!  After that we went to her apartment to use the pool.  It wasn't super hot, and the pool was a little cool.  But Bertie had so much fun.  He is a water baby.

Boy and the boy napping

Bubbles and the paddle pool.

Fun at the pool

So happy

Sitting in his own seat, like a big boy.

Watching the planes and trucks

Duck Donuts!

Misc stuff

What's for dinner this week?
Grilled tuna sandwiches (Monday)
Monte Cristo sandwiches
Frozen pizza (Tuesday)
Bacon and mushroom quiche (tonight)
Baby Back Ribs
Home made banana cake with chocolate buttercream frosting (so good!)

What happened last Saturday?
That was an annoying day.  Aaron went to help his dad work on the brakes for Aaron's truck (which his dad is borrowing).  It should have taken maybe 3 hours, but they worked on it all day, and didn't finish.  That meant I had Bertie on my own all day, so I was a little irritated.  Bertie and I walked to an open house nearby, the outside was unimpressive, but the inside was nice.  But this is the second house I've seen recently with no bathtubs!  I would never buy a house without a tub.  (Also, I just like going to open houses, we're not buying (ever, because we can't afford it)).  After that I left Bertie with his grandma for a couple hours and took a nap.

What's Bertram up to lately?
This kid is into everything!  And is hurting himself a lot.  One day last week he ran over his fingers playing in the dishwasher, had his fingers slammed in the toilet seat, slipped crawling out of the bathroom and bumped his head, then bonked his head in his crib.  He says cracker (for all food, including crackers), dada, and uh oh.  He's working on cat, dog, sticker and truck.  He'll wave bye-bye.  He can (and does) now crawl correctly.  He is pulling up on everything, cruising, and starting to balance just a little.  He likes looking at books, especially if there is a picture of a sun or moon.  He hasn't had much in the way of new food.  But he had spinach for the first time in a while, and he spat it out.  He also did that with mashed potatoes.  But he likes tuna, beets, onions, broccoli and other foods with "loud" flavours. He'll do simple commands: wave, clap, kick, pat, come here.  He loves opening and closing doors, drawers and cabinets, turning on and off the light switch, and playing with trucks (or anything with wheels).

Work

I went to work this morning.  The schedule looked weird.  I found out one of the PTs was laid off.  He was the newest one, not too long out of school.  I feel bad.  Then I checked my email and saw my boss wanted to meet with me later in the morning.  So I assumed I might be getting laid off too.  I wasn't, but my hours were cut.  I was (only) working 12, now I'm only working 8.  Down from MWF to WF.  I texted Aaron to let him know.  He said are you sad or happy?  I said "I feel unaffected".  I really do.  I'm a little sad that I'm somewhat disposable, but I suppose that's true of nearly all jobs.  But I was secretly thinking not too long ago that I wouldn't mind working less.  It came at a good time though.  My job was essentially paying for our (me and Bertie) insurance.  And with Aaron's new job, our (the whole family) insurance is essentially free (under $40 a month).  So the money from my job is kind of a bonus.  Plus Aaron's pay will increase in August, so it's fine.

Yesterday I took Bertie to get his one year pictures done (only a month late, more on that later).  I went to Picture People at the mall.  My experience was terrible.  Here is a copy of the letter I'll be mailing tomorrow:

To the manager,

I wanted to inform you of an unfortunately disappointing  experience I had at your store.  

On Monday, 30 March I went in, in the afternoon, to make an appointment for the next day.  I was helped by Carl.  He was nice, helpful, and seemed interested in the pictures for my son's first birthday, and had some helpful suggestions for outfits or props to bring from home.  

I came in the next day (31 March) for my son's appointment, and was helped by Vanessa and Michelle initially.  They had to get all my information again, despite having provided it the previous day.  Michelle was my photographer.  Things started out ok.  She didn't really have a lot of suggestions for positioning him.  She was not good at getting his attention, or having him look the right way.  I will concede that  my son was not his normal happy self that day, but he was not overly uncooperative, especially at the beginning of the shoot.  As the session went on, his patience ran out.  She didn't suggest we take a break, or do anything that might make him happier.  I knew there wouldn't be a lot of workable images at the end.  

Towards the end, it became obvious that my son wanted to nurse, I told him I would nurse him once we were finished.  At the end of the shoot Michelle said “We have a bathroom if you want to nurse him”. I ignored this.  Once we were all packed up, and she was going to edit the images, she again said “The bathroom is just down the hall, so you can nurse him.” At this point I said “I don't feed my son in the bathroom.” It seems like your store should have enough babies/nursing mothers come in that your employees should be aware that suggesting that a mother feed her baby in the bathroom is gross, and insulting.  Not to mention California Civil Code 43.3 the right to breastfeed in any location, public or private.  

We waited for our images to be finished.  Vanessa called me over to look at the images. As I mentioned, I knew there wouldn't be a lot of usable images, but I was surprised that there were only 17.  And the majority of these were not anything I would choose for a professional picture.  Most of the close up shots that were really cute had the top, or side of the head cut off.  A few of the full shots that were good clearly showed the plastic “wood” flooring pealing up.  Vanessa didn't say anything and seemed really bored to be there.

I was apprehensive about getting my son's pictures from Picture People to begin with, and apparently for good reason.  I won't be returning to your store, or chain, and will definitely dissuade others from going there.

Yeah, it was terrible. Fortunately, I only spent $20,

Originally, we had pictures scheduled with Abby, a girl I know from church. (I say girl, but she's probably just a couple years younger than me). We were scheduled mid-March, but then Bertie and Aaron were sick. So we moved to the next Saturday. But then the baby they were adopting came five weeks early, so she and her hubby had to rush out to Ohio. She just updated her facebook today, the birth mom changed her mind. When I read that, my gut sank. I'm heartbroken for them. They were involved from the very beginning. I went down to tell Dennis, since he knew about the adoption. I was telling him, and he reacted as anyone would. At that moment Janet walked up and asked what happened. (She's never met Abby, and doesn't know her). I told her, and she started crying. (For those who don't know, Aaron was adopted at birth. Janet and Dennis are his parents. He didn't meet his bio-mom until he was 24). This, of course, made me cry. There's nothing you can say, or do. It's human nature to want to help, but this is a helpless situation.

On to better things.

Aside from the terrible news above, today was a pretty good day. I had an early start. Bertie woke up at 3, I let him fuss for 15 or 20 minutes (he was more whining than anything else). Then I went in, changed him, nursed him, and laid him back down. I couldn't go back to sleep. I got up a little after 4. I left for work at 6. Work was normal. When I got home, Bertie was sleeping, but woke up as soon as I went in the house. He was sleeping on the floor. His eyes snapped open, he looked at me, and crawled right over. He also crawled up the stairs twice! That's the first time he's done that. We went to Safeway and got Seltzer water (I'm nearly 2 weeks diet coke free!). Then I decided we would go to Red Lobster for lunch, I had a gift card. I got 1.5 lbs of crab legs. Bertram is usually a bottomless pit, so I assumed he'd eat a lot. He did eat two biscuits, but only a little crab. So we'll have lunch tomorrow. I thought he was tired (I know I was), so we went home. I laid down with him, and then put him in his bed. He didn't sleep. We then went for a nice walk. When we got back, I laid him down again. I got dinner started. I made a Mexican casserole. He still didn't sleep, so I drew and bath, and we both got in. Aaron came home, we got dried and dressed, and ate dinner. Aaron didn't like it, I thought it was good. We walked the dogs. And Bertie went to bed. I'll be doing that same soon.