10 weeks!

I love this photo, I feel like it is an accurate representation of how my life feels right now.. crazy! The apartment is slowly being taken over by baby toys, and he isn't even "doing" anything yet! I got the Skip Hop play mat for the floor in the living room to make a softer area to lie down with him and let him try to crawl or roll around. The dogs love it. :) We also got a doorway jumper since Smoosh is OBSESSED with standing up and "jumping". Only problem is that the only doorway in our apartment that is low enough (we have super high ceilings) is in the bathroom- the door to the laundry/boiler room. This is also where the dogs' pee pee pad is, so it is a little weird. Hmm. Oh well, it is still great. I think I will bring it with us to my parent's for Christmas. 3 weeks of happy jumping in lots of doorways there!

I am SO excited, tomorrow we hit the open highway (well, there will probably be quite a bit of traffic) for Thanksgiving in Tennessee. I am a little wary about the 12 hour drive and how I am going to feed him every 2 hours, but I have a plan. I am going to try to pump IN the car, and sit in the back seat and feed him the bottle. I hope he takes it because if we have to stop every 2 hours for 20 minutes we won't make in there by Thursday. Not to mention, we are bringing the dogs. Throw that into the mix and we have a very crazy road trip planned. Oh well, we will get there eventually. :)

Something else just dawned on me that I am not very happy about. I am eventually going to get my period again, and from what I have heard, it is going to be worse than ever. It has been 10 weeks and I think my days are numbered. Yesterday I noticed a pimple on my chin. THEN I proceeded to CLEAN the house like I haven't cleaned since my nesting-shoe-closet organization day. I actually scrubbed the stove, inside and out! I have never done that before. :| I have also been acting a little bit strange, thrashing around and being clumsy... :( Sigh.

First night out on the town/ I Want it All

Without the baby! Yes, we got a babysitter last night and DH and I went out in the city to a wild birthday party at The Box and it was lovely. It felt very strange to put on my heels after.. geez, almost a year? I don't think I wore them the whole time I was pregnant of course. It was really fun to dress up and be my old self again.... kind of.

Of course, I missed my little Smoosh and I stressed for DAYS before about pumping, formula, whether I could stand to leave him at all.. But I am so glad I did.

We have a close friend who babysits so I felt totally at ease with that. I actually think Smoosh could tell what was going on on some level, he decided to do a marathon nursing session right before we left (making such funny faces and smiling at me while he ate) so he actually didn't need to eat the whole time we were gone anyway. All that stress - not to mention the emergency can of organic formula - for nothing!

Yes, I bought some formula and have been feeling pretty guilty/conflicted about it. It is something I never thought I would consider EVER. I decided to buy some just so the sitter would have a back up if I couldn't pump enough. Then she asked that we try it on him beforehand just in case. So the other night I made some up and we tried to feed it to him. I had always thought of formula as baby fast food, so I thought he would gobble it down. I know my little piggy loves to eat. :) But he wasn't having it at all, he made these awful faces and spit it out and I felt SO bad! Force feeding him crap! How awful am I! I decided to leave the room all together, and sure enough once me and my boobies were out of sight, he did gooble it down. And went to sleep. FOR SIX HOURS!!! I woke up, looked at the clock, checked to make sure he was OK and praised the Lord. The feeling of sleeping for 6 hours straight for the first time in 2 months was like heaven. I felt like a new person.

Formula... the devil on my shoulder. But I will choose motherly martyrdom for the sake of my Smooshie's health. I have read the studies and I will not super-size my child just for the sake of a night's sleep. It turns out I was able to pump PLENTY in one sitting yesterday afternoon, so the formula wouldn't have been needed even if he had woken up to eat. However, I WILL keep it on hand for future babysitting situations.

Here is the thing: My mother breast fed me exclusively, probably for an uncomfortably long time. I was never left with a sitter, I never had sugar or junk food. We lived in the Caribbean and my mom filled her days frolicking on the beach with me and making silkscreens and paintings. My mother In Law, on the other hand, was a high powered PR woman. She gave DH formula, he had a nanny. And we are both fine. He is not obese, he even has a PhD. I want to be somewhere in the middle. I want to stick to my values and beliefs about what is best and most natural for my baby, but I also want to keep my career going, keep my marriage and my social life interesting, go on meetings and trips and to fancy parties. And so I walk a fine line, and this is just the beginning..

Last night I cried...

Because Shmoosh was too big for his pajamas... This is so unlike me! I am usually a look-forward person. Not terribly sentimental. But when I saw his little feet poking out of the footsies, the fabric refusing to stretch over his little shoulders, I got so upset! DH thinks I am crazy, he just can't wait to be able to talk to him. Sometimes when I am nursing, these intense emotions take over as well. I look down and he is sucking away, looking up at me with his big blue eyes and I just want to squeeze him and never let him go. It is actually painful to feel this strongly.

Anyway, yesterday we had his 2 month appointment at the new doctor since our new insurance doesn't cover the other one. It is pretty upsetting since the other practice is a few blocks away, and very fabulous and progressive. This new guy comes well recommended, but we have to drive over there, it;s hard to find parking in that neighborhood, it isn't as nice or cool. It is actually in the Polish neighborhood, so it is basically like being in Poland ( I imagine). Lots of Perogi shops, everyone speaking Polish in the office. Whoever said New York isn't diverse hasn't been exploring the right neighborhoods. The DR was nice, but pretty intense. DH wasn't crazy about him, but he did give us lots of personal attention and he was very impressed with Smoosh. He is 13 lb 12oz and 24.5 inches which puts him in the 90th and 95th percentile, respectively. The DR found him very social, he was smiling and laughing during his entire exam. Smoosh apparently though the doctor was very funny. We have to go back next week for shots since he isn't actually 2 months yet. Not looking forward to that.

What I am looking forward to is going to the Beer Garden tomorrow with the mommy group. :)

8 weeks!

My little guy is 8 weeks today.. and it my birthday! The age that will not be named haha.. OK, I am 32. I am going to stop being weird about it now.

Last weekend DH had to go to a conference in Atlanta so my sister came into town to meet her nephew. We had SUCH a great time. She is 25 and not much of a baby person, but they just adored each other. She had him smiling and laughing constantly! We did tons of shopping, went out to the outlets (YAY!!) and ate lots of yummy food. I got some really great stuff for Smoosh at the Saks outlet. :)

Sunday night we celebrated my birthday early with a group of friends at the Beer Hall/ Beer Garden which was AWESOME. They have delicious Austrian food, amazing beer (duh) and it is kid friendly! It was totally full of hipster parents and fabulously dressed kids running wild all over the place. Smoosh loved the dark and loud environment and slept like a dream for a few hours before getting up to play and get held by everyone. I think we may be spending a lot of time there in the future.

Yesterday I went to an indoor garage sale and picked up a few more hideous things that I swore I would never buy. First, a Bumbo seat. I just never liked the idea of these things, and I think I even read that they can be damaging because parents leave them in there for hours and it causes developmental problems... Well, we will be careful with ours. For now, it is awesome to stick him in there and have him sit up on the counter with us as we make dinner. It is giving his little neck and upper body a good work out too. Second, a battery powered plastic mobile. This thing goes for $120 on Amazon! It is supposed to help their development, but it simply a ploy to lure him into his crib. I have to get batteries for it today, then I will let you know how it works. He seems pretty fascinated by it already.

No change in the sleep schedule, I just seem to be going to sleep earlier and earlier to fit into his schedule. Hmmm

7 weeks today!

And I think my Smoosh had a major growth spurt. Last night his pajamas came nowhere near fitting onto him! I had to rustle through the bigger things I had put away and put him in a size 6 month outfit! Luckily, I have starting buying 6 month things. Like the AMAZING striped sweater I got him at the Bonpointe sample sale!!

Yes, I did end up getting to go, but it was NO easy task. First, my follow up OB appointment. Everything is great, except I found out that I am still 17 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight!!! EEK! No wonder my jeans don't fit! I have to say, that was quite the shock. I think I look good, but geez, I need to fit back into my clothes. I have very expensive designer clothes that I have been "investing" in for a long time (Yes, I have convinced DH that they are an investment mwahaha.) Sigh. I did start mommy baby pilates yesterday.

So after the OB appointment I was able to convince DH to just to do a quick drive-by of the sample sale. After all , I don't think I had even been into the city since the baby was born and that made DH feel sorry for me and agree to go. Of course, I got the cross streets wrong ( I thought it was between 5th and 6th ave, but it was really 7th and 8th). It would have taken an hour to get around the block so my plans were almost thwarted, but I just jumped out and ran like the wind back to 8th avenue. Then I see ropes and lines outside the building... there is also a Louis Vuitton sample sale going on in the building as well! Now, I could really do without LV anyway. Ostentatious status bags aren't my thing, I don't have much use for heels these days, and I am OBVIOUSLY not buying clothes at this weight. So this just means I have to deal with lines of crazy NYC women Sex-In-The-City-Style trying to rush the elevators. Well, I made it and it was worth it. If I had had a baby girl, I would have been in trouble. If I had gone on the first day I might have been in trouble as well, as the tables were slightly picked over by Thursday. Even still, I found exactly what I was looking for. The very last little wool cap that covers the ears. The LAST one. AND it was $20, market down for $120!! I also quickly picked up and adorable greyish blue sweater overall and brown striped sweater. These will look adorable for Christmas photos I think. How I love a good sample sale.

And more baby style news, the Stella McCartney for Gap line came out today! Die!!! It is SO cute, although the infant clothes are slightly less irresistible than the toddler line with the little military jackets...

Halloween was super fun. Smoosh was a baby shark, I was a Geisha warrior, and DH was a Guatemalan cowboy. We walked around the festivities and had a drink with friends from my mommy group and watched the Brooklyn "Babyburg" festivities. There surely are a lot of hip kids and parents around here.

On Sunday night I decided to take Smoosh in the bath rub with me for a little swimming lesson. He LOVED it, especially floating. He is going to be ready for the beach by Christmas for sure. Now we better hop in the shower (we shower together every morning) and get to our cooking class. Followed by lunch with the mommy group, then Music class. :)

Stella McCartney for Gap!