Mom & Baby yoga

This week we attended our second mom & baby yoga class. I'll bet your wondering, "now, how in the world does that work? a bunch of babies aged 6 wks to 9 mos doing downward dog? right. " Can't you just see it?

In fact there is not a lot of yoga going on. It's not like a regular class. The focus is primarily on the babies. We play games with them, sing to them and do little stretches with them. It's so fun, and I think Jonas really enjoys it. I'm learning all kinds of baby songs and games, as well as a bit about baby massage.

We're living it up because we can only attend one session. Soon Mom will have to go back to work and we'll just have to practice at home. But will Mom remember any of it?? That is the question.

A warm welcome to Jonas' new pals

Sunday was quite a day. We got word that morning that our dear friends Sue and Tim were likely to be meeting their new daughter very soon. "Cousin" Clare was born in the wee hours of Monday morning.

Tim with Clare

That afternoon, we had a great trip to the park catching up with Karen and Moss and Theo. We're so excited that they'll be moving here this summer. Jonas and Theo (and moms) have many fun outings to look forward to.

Jonas slept through our entire picnic while Theo entertained us. So, Jonas won't officially get to meet Theo until summer, but it'll be here before you know it!

Editor's note on determining a child's age

I just realized that today is the 21st, NOT the 26th. As Jonas was born on the 26th, he will not officially be 2 months old until April 26th. I don't know what the heck I was thinking.

Dates have been very confusing to me lately. I rarely have any idea what day of the week it is. Sometimes when I ask Joe what day it is, I feel like a mental patient.

Mom & Dad's "first date night"

It was so nice of my mom to push us out the door so that we could actually have a date night, when she came for a visit. Six weeks old. It's time!

We enjoyed a delicious dinner and glass of wine at one of our favorite restaurants, Milano. It was a joy to have adult conversation and to actually match my clothes before going out!



Here we are just before handing the little rascal off to Grammy for the night.






Thanks, Mom!

2 months!!

Yay, Jonas is officially 8 weeks old!

One of the best developments in the past few weeks is that Jonas has learned to smile, the REAL smile. How cute is this??








He still watches his mobile a lot. I am amazed at how long it can hold his attention. The other day I put him under it for a minute or two while tidying something in his room. He waved and laughed and kicked at it. Five minutes went by, then 8, then 10, 15. He loves it! He was nearly there for 20-25 minutes. Hey, I'll take whatever time I can get. Meanwhile, I managed to clean up his whole room and complete a clothes sorting project, which is very important these days as he's blowing through his clothes reserve.

Here's another thing that makes me laugh my ass off. Jonas is losing the hair that he was born with to new hair (still in the soft fuzz stage), but what's so comical is the hair loss pattern. Check out this photo:



He looks like he has been attacked and buzzed by a pair of errant clippers.




He's lost lots of hair on the left side of his head because I often put him to sleep on his side. It's coming out on the right side too, but not anywhere near as fast. Sometimes I fluff up all the hair in the middle so it looks like a mohawk. Then it looks like he's got this stylin' 'do.

As I write this, Jonas is passed out on my lap taking a nap. I'm a prisoner to my bed and laptop until he wakes up. After all, who wants to wake a sleeping baby?! He is laughing and laughing. What in the world is so funny to an 8 week old?

Almost six weeks

We got out for our longest walk this week. It's so great to get OUTSIDE!!!

Jonas has begun studying our faces. He watches the flashing lights on his swing with purpose. He vocalizes more with oohs and ahhs and gurgles. His newest sound is "geuh". I find this amusing because this is what I always call GE, "the geuh". :-)

I can't believe how much I enjoy just observing him. I put him in his crib and turn on the mobile. He watches it spin around. I in turn could just watch him for tens of minutes doing this while I wonder what's going on in that little baby brain. What is he seeing? He kicks and "strums" his fingers in the air with excitement and intrigue.

He has gotten so long. He was in the 90 something percentile in height at our last dr visit two weeks ago. I notice this all the time when I put him in the bouncer chair, or when he's stretched out on the boppy pillow. I can picture so clearly when he looked so tiny in the papasan chair just a few weeks ago.

The many faces of Jonas...

You do what you have to

As I was just typing out an email to a friend, it dawned on me the "adjustments" that we have to make to get anything accomplished with an infant. While Joe is out for a run this morning, I thought that I'd get a few emails written. Jonas had been resting peacefully in his bouncer chair sucking away on his pacifier. So it was an opportune moment. No sooner did I sit down and he changed his mind. "I don't want to be in this chair any more. And I definitely don't want this stupid pacifier!" After I picked up the pacifier for nth time, I took him out of the chair and strapped him into the baby bjorn. It works every time.

The trick is that I've got to move about a bit. I washed up the latest round of bottles and watered the plants, bouncing around and swaying when he started fidgeting. Then I went to the computer. I WILL get these emails done--whatever it takes. So, here's what it takes:

We listen to some music (Jonas likes John Mayer's Continuum album), and as I type, I try to either rock or do twists, whatever induces him back into a sleep. This is not easy for someone who was not a good multi-taker before motherhood and is even worse at multi-tasking with a baby, if it could get to a worse stage. Sometimes I have stop typing to concentrate on the movement and then start typing again. Of course, by then I've lost my train of thought. But hey, we do have to do. Besides, maybe somehow or another it'll forge more right brain-left brain connections. You can never have too many of those, and I think I've lost quite a few in the last few months.

First lessons learned

This post is actually about me, not Jonas. Yeah, didn’t you read the fine print at the beginning of this blog? It clearly states that I reserve the right to occasionally write about myself, after the baby is born.

A baby’s growth curve is exponential in the first year of life. I’d argue that the parents’ is too. My first month as a new mom was wonderful, exhilarating, exhausting, and… instructional!

Here are the top five things that I learned:

1. You can do amazing things with your toes.

There have been so many times when I couldn’t pick up something off the floor that I desperately needed. Damn! If only I had a few more arms, like that Indian goddess. (Sorry I don’t know her name.) Then, I had an important realization: in addition to my two hands, I’ve got ten more digits on the floor! Why not use them? I’m not as good as a chimp, but I’m getting there. Give it another few months I may be writing out checks with my feet, holding Jonas in one hand and cooking a full dinner in the other.

2. Wipes are a rip.

It only took me a week to learn this one. Seriously, is there some kind of wipe conspiracy that I haven’t been cued in on? They just smeared around the “business”. Four wipes later, I could finally see skin again. Are you kidding me?! And they’re expensive. Let me do the math for you: 20 diapers x 4 wipes per session = 80 wipes per day. There are only a few hundred wipes in a box.

I took to using a warm wash cloth. Works better. I’m happy to report that since I formed this initial opinion I did find a brand of wipes that are thicker and get the job done. Huggies Naturals. Now I can use one wipe per change. I can live with that.

3. It’s a proven fact: wine tastes phenomenal after you haven’t had it for nine months.

I had my first glass of wine a week or so after we brought Jonas home. It was glorious. Granted, between the sleep deprivation, the physical exhaustion from the labor, and the relaxation effects of the wine I passed out at 7 pm that night. Well, it was worth it.

4. It’s important to upgrade your cable package.

If you have the basic, BASIC cable package like we do, I would strongly recommend upgrading to the next level. I never thought that I’d do much tv watching, as I find tv programming incredibly boring. The thing is in the early weeks of maternity leave, there is a lot of sitting/lying around. So what do you do? I naively thought that I’d be sailing through books while on maternity leave. But holding and squirmy baby and trying to feed him, while holding a book still—hell, forget holding it still; holding it period!—is virtually impossible, at least at my novice status. So, I spend a lot of time looking at the tv. I ow know the manufacturer of every advertised pharmaceutical, have seen more trashy tv shows than I care to admit here and could tell you anything you want to know about getting in touch with a lawyer who can help you get the money “you deserve” from your accident.

5. Changing boys’ diapers: the anti-dote to Dilly-dally syndrome

According to my husband I have long suffered from DDS. He says I lolly-gag. I prefer to think of it as taking my time and being thorough. It drives me crazy to rush through things. “Liz, you’ve got to pick up the pace,” he says, the first few times I changed Jonas’ diaper. Sounds reminiscent of our old runs together. “Listen, you change ‘em your way; I’ll change ‘em mine.” Well, that line worked fine for a little while. Then it happened. I was changing him in the early morning hours, doing my best to clean every inch thoroughly, and all of a sudden Jonas started spraying like a fire hose. All over the place! The changing table, my arms, the wall, his own body—all doused. I won’t describe the “other” scenario. Yep, that's happened too. I finally got the idea after a dozen times. Now, I’m wicked fast, and somehow I still manage to get the job done. Passes QC inspection every time.

So many changes, so much wonder. What will next month hold?