Query

Do all breastfed ten month olds think somersaulting while nursing is a good idea?

Query

Do all breastfed ten month olds think somersaulting while nursing is a good idea?

Note to self.

Reminder:
-look up Pow Wows
-look up drum circles
-listen to In Tune With Spirit more often
-eat more cottage cheese
-morning walks are good, even if you don't want to go

Life in the new house...

A few days ago...

I have so many thoughts and no coherent way to express them.

We're moved in properly now, and out of the hotel. I'm trying to unpack. It's going more slowly than packing.

The kitchen is getting sorted out. Brian put the vinyl tile down, and it looks awesome despite being cheap as hell vinyl tile. I have to get everything out of the way before the appliances are delivered tomorrow, and that is so not happening tonight.

I found at least thirty souveiner plastic cups that my dad left behind when he was here for a few days to help make the house go. They are from a place he's never been. Query?

My kitchen has one. ONE! drawer. This may be difficult, but will also force me to declutter and be creative with organizing. That's a good thing.

Elijah's been trying to figure out how to stand on his own for more than half a second. That's pretty awesome.

---

Back to the present--

I was up at 8am today, because for some reason that's when Babyface decided it was time to wake up. So we took the dogs for a walk through the swamp, and he slept for half the walk. Sigh.

I had a good, real, proper shower for the first time in a few days, and it was glorious. My hair is clean and shiny and soft. Unlike the shower in the apartment, our new shower remains a constant temperature. Amazing!

Elijah and I spent the day wandering around the house, not unpacking boxes. Some laundry got done, which is good.

Elijah's room is good. It's small, but all it needs to hold is the full sized mattress he and I sleep on, and some toys. And it does this quite well. There are covers on the outlets, and a baby gate at the door. We can hang out in here for an hour or so, playing with toys, and it keeps him happy and laughing. It's great.

5 things I'm grateful for today--
-water filter
-bed
-shower!
-the Internet
-a working stroller

Storm.

The storm is here, finally. Which explains today's migraine attack.

I do so love rain and thunder...

Moving.

OMG moving packing awkjhdflwekwle *zonk*

Ahem.

We're moving. In case I hadn't mentioned it. We're moving Friday.

Aunt Marcy and Aunt Nicole have been extremely helpful in entertaining the babyface the past two evenings so I could get some packing done.

You'd think I'd have more to say. Hmm. Let's see. Elijah spent the day crawling around like crazy, and talking up a storm. It was awesome, and would have been even more awesome if I hadn't been feeling like a useless moron for having a silent migraine. (I mean seriously? Why can't I handle this weirdness when there's no pain? Oh that's right--because I CAN'T WALK OR SPEAK! I still got laundry done and dinner made, though, so I guess I shouldn't feel so guilty.)

How about some pictures?

From Elijah

Us on the train!

From Elijah

Look at him stand!

From Elijah

I'm proud of this shot.

From Elijah

He is less than impressed, when aunt Kacy is carrying him to the ocean.

From Elijah

Destroying my turtles, however, was fun!

From Elijah

Kisses for Kacy :D

From Elijah

This was one of the birds that kept trying to steal our food.

From Elijah

There was a rainbow!! Can you see it?

From Elijah

And this shot is of our new floors, because they're awesome.


There are more pictures here, including some cell phone noms and more shots at the beach :)

Home.

We're home, and glad to be home. Kacy provided a much needed break from life. There was laughter, and learning, and food, and the beach. Elijah loved the beach.

Right now, I'm eating icecream, waiting for the bath to fill up. Elijah is trying to crawl over the boxes that are blocking his way into the bathroom, and Brian is dealing with the laundry, just outside the door. It is good.

There will be food when I get out of the bath. First, there will be icecream.

I thought I had more coherent things to say, but I think the problem is I want to be interesting. Okay, then--forget interesting. Let's do documentation--

On Monday, Elijah and I both experienced a drum circle for the first time. At times, he was made nervous and upset by it--at other times, such as when Kacy took him into the circle with her while she danced, he was laughing and happy. And he tried to drum which was very cute. Chris W tried to teach him (and me) the beat. It didn't work ;)

Over the week, Elijah ate peach cobbler, ramen, beans from a burrito, tortilla chips, chai bread, broccoli, green beans, Goldfish crackers (I HATE those things!), and lots and lots of graham crackers. I, on the other hand, ate lots of ramen with peanut butter, and English muffins with cheese.

I can hear him outside the bathroom, saying, "Ma ma ma mamamama maaa mamama!" and fussing. Sigh. But Brian has calmed him down--possibly with a jar of bananas and strawberries.

Every time that Morning approached Elijah, she licked his face. After the first three or four times, he started licking her first. She was confused.

I miss Kacy and JD and Chris. JD is so sweet and kind and awesome, and he loves Elijah so much and I just don't know why. Why does everyone else enjoy this baby boy so very much? Yes, he's beautiful, but he's so much work and he's so confusing and he's a helpless little baby and he's not theirs, so why do they love him?

Although I suppose Chris and Kacy and JD do consider him theirs, so I guess that answers that.

I took a lot of pictures and a lot of video. I will post them later.

Under a rainbow at the beach, Elijah destroyed half of the turtles I'd molded from sand.

Lots of screaming now, angry yelling and "ba ba ba ba ba!" and "ma ma mamamama!" I guess it's time to make my way out of the bath.

Was there a still in the Swamp?

I should have more to say about today than I do, but, well, I don't. My brain is mush. So mushy is my brain that I took Elijah out to walk the dogs and forgot to take the dogs. I was halfway down the stairs before I realized my mistake. When I came back for the dogs, Brian laughed at me, and Chris B made scary noises.

I bought many bottles of House Call. And some wasabi peanuts. Those are amazing.

Elijah and I walked through a swamp. He smiled at a junkie.

Brian bought a PS2 and some games for $15. I now require Katamari Damacy and one of the GTA games.

We have to wake up in too few hours. Elijah and I are getting on a train at stupid early in the morning to go visit aunt Kacy.

zzzz

Education

...I do believe we need this: Your Baby Can Read

Night.

Elijah is asleep, there's rain outside, Chris is watching TV in his room, Brian is watching anime with headphones across the room from me. The dogs are woofing quietly at the new neighbours who are very loud, and I am wallowing in my head pain, and having a midnight snack.

Midnight snack: Ibuprofen, vitamins, Sudafed, bread and cheese, and Function: House Call. Which is supposed to be honey green tea but tastes like libraries.

When I stood up to go get my midnight snack, I took three steps, swayed, sat down again. My migraine attacks have been weird lately--not nearly as frequent as they were before pregnancy, but more surprising. I used to have ample warning that one was coming, from significant aura. Now they come on much more quickly, and are more susceptible to light and sound than the old ones were.

Dinner was a surprising success; apparently an orange and some cajun seasoning on a chicken in the crock pot works well. We also had cheese to go with the potatoes and broccoli. It was quite good. And Elijah rejected chicken in favour of broccoli.

And after dinner, I had icecream with cream, because my grandfather and I were talking about how much we used to eat icecream, earlier, and how infrequently we do now. But I tend to be happier when I'm eating a lot of icecream, so perhaps I should get back to that.

The day's productivity continued: I packed three crates of books, two boxes of clothes, and one box of sheets. I may have done more as well, but the pain in my head is preventing memory from surfacing.

After dinner, we picked up Marcy to show her the new house, and mostly so she and I could smoke a couple of clove cigarettes and catch up a bit. It was good. It needs to happen sometimes.

And then babyface screamed the entire way home, which sure didn't help my head, or Brian's stress level. So now we're vegging.

Reminder

This is so I can keep in mind that productivity is possible.

Today, I have:
-made a whiny blog post
-eaten breakfast with Elijah (onion bagel with butter, and cold leftover garlic broccoli)
-checked email
-checked Facebook
-put dinner in the crock pot (chicken and potatoes--there's an orange in the chicken's cavity, butter under its skin, and lots of cajun seasoning, onion powder, celery salt, and garlic powder all over it)
-planned the rest of dinner (rice, broccoli) to be finished around 5
-took dogs and baby for a walk (while talking to Grampa)
-washed towels
-put towels in dyer
-put clothes in washer
-ran dishwasher
-ran water distiller
-wrote this blog post

And it's only noon!

And now we're lying down, nursing and listening to the Sisters of Mercy. I'm trying to decide whether to try to sleep. I really probably should.

Ugh. Morning.

This is Mama trying not to obsess over stupid things: Missing an ingredient for dinner, potentially hosting someone... while in utter chaos.

This is Mama not being a morning person, and needing to eat before anyone talks to her in the mornings (but that didn't happen).

Erg.

I think I'll reinstate the old rule, slightly modified: Do not speak to Mama of anything important if she hasn't eaten.

And ashes, and ashes, and ashes, and ashes, and ashes...

I've listened to the Floodland album by the Sisters of Mercy once or twice a day (sometimes more) every day for the last nine months. And I'm not tired of it yet. You'd think I would be.

* * *

Elijah had his nine month check-up today; he was 28 inches tall (meaning he has two inches to go before he's half my height) and 18.7lbs. He smiled at the doctor until she started sticking things in his ears. I sang the Werewolves Go Marching for him, which kept him from screaming at her. She did not comment.

"The werewolves go marching one by one, aroo, aroo..."

* * *

Sometimes, what one needs is a really good, frantic, snotty, childish cry, while someone holds you and tells you it's going to be okay. Even if it isn't, not right away.

* * *

Picture time.

From Elijah

Remmy found his way into the high chair, and was cleaning it up for me :p

From Elijah

Not entirely sure about this pool thing...

From Elijah

Better?

From Elijah

Maybe...

From Elijah

From Elijah

Daddy isn't a water person.

From Elijah

What a smile :)

From Elijah

Oh, look, a blogger window...

Oh my.

Hello.

My brain? It is mush.

We went to the pool today. And Sunday. It was fun. Elijah likes the water. He sticks his face in, chokes on some water, coughs a bit, and makes an ugly face. Then does it again.

last.fm is my new friend.

The bathtub is my old friend, much missed for the last few days.

There are more pictures. I'll upload them later.

zzzzz