At the beach...

So Smoosh and I are on our own down in the Caribbean at my parent's house. I was super nervous about the flight (I hate flying and cry for days before), but it was pretty good. I got upgraded to 1st class which definitely helped since we had plenty of space to get up and down and nurse and scatter toys around. Even though we got up at 3AM for the airport, he managed to only nap for about 20 minutes the entire day. He spent most of the flight making his pterodactyl shrieking noises and wanting to stand and jump. Oh well, everyone was nice and said he was wonderful anyway. It has been pretty rainy this weekend so I hope to get some better shots in the next few days...



Here he is at the beach yesterday, looking like such a big boy. He has a bunch of 9 month summer clothes that people bought him but they fit now so I am glad he has somewhere to wear them!

Sleep is still a massive problem so I am doing an experiment in sleep training tonight. :( The last week he has been up every hour or 2 to nurse. Last night he nursed for 20 minutes every hour! Even Dr.Sears says this is not normal at his age, and I can't have an all night milk bar going. He also manages to roll himself over to me and cries if I won't feed him. At this point, I feel like he is getting out of control. He is huge for his age and very willful. I feel like if I don't put my foot down now, he is going to be running ALL over me. Soon he will be crawling over and pulling my top off and helping himself whenever he wants! So, while I am here at my parent's, with an extra bedroom and concrete walls, I am letting him cry. It is hard, but at this point I know he is OK and I know I have to do something to get this under control. He went to bed at 7 so I will go get him and nurse him every 3 hours tonight. I am not about to leave him in there ALL night, that is not for me. I think this is reasonable. When I checked on him after an hour, he was awake fussing and took it up to full screaming when he saw me so I left. Now I just checked again (30 mins later) and he is fast asleep. YAYY. Tiny victory. It's going to be a long night, but I think it is all for the best.

5 months today!!

OMG, and that means he is almost 6 months eek!! I can't believe he is going to be eating solids soon.. and crawling, and talking and walking.. Sniff sniff. Last night I actually got in the crib with him to nurse - I figured it was easier than nursing him in our bed and having to move him. And I am less likely to fall asleep. It was cool seeing what he sees with the canopy and the ceiling, the stars from Twilight Turtle and the waved crashing coming from Sleep Sheep. I must say, it is very nice and relaxing in there. I think I figured out that the reason he has been having so much trouble at night lately is definitely teething.I gave him Sophie in the middle of the night when he wanted to nurse AGAIN, and he went to town gnawing on the legs. Poor little thing.

Our Valentine's Day was pretty awesome. I had big ideas about going to Marlow and Daughters and getting some amazing local meat, making molten chocolate cake and home made whipped cream but I didn't actually budget any time to do all these things. Instead, we went to visit our friends who had a baby a few weeks ago. Their house is always spotless (even a few weeks after a C section, come on!) which makes me feel like a big mess, so when I got home I ordered a Roomba! This will fix everything I am sure ;)

We ended up getting home in just enough time for Bedtime Routine, so Smoosh and I took a nice bath together (he discovered making huge splashes, very funny) while DH ordered fancy pizza. Smoosh sleeping in his crib, nice wine, truffle oil pizza..perfect.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Last night he really out did himself with the non sleeping. Why, Smooshie, why?! Sigh. It feels like one step forward, two steps back with the sleeping sometimes. I can't believe I had him on 1 feeding per night and was so sure we would be sleeping through the night by the new year.. LAst night was HELL. And he doesn't want the bottle from my husband. Well, he drinks it but then he wants to play. Only nursing puts him back to sleep.. over and over and over.. I am going a little crazy I think! Not to mention, he takes NO naps. Seriously, 10 minutes after nursing total per day. I was talking to my mom about it and she said she once knew a baby who didn't nap at all.. That would have been me.

We had a really fun day yesterday. My Valentine's present was a shopping spree! Now that I have the bigger jeans, I seriously needed some new shirts that 1. Fit 2. I can nurse in. I got lots of flowy tunics and loose cardigan things so I can stop feeling like a stuffed sausage.

Of course, I had to get Smoosh a few things - some beautiful Petite Bataue long sleeve onesies (one is 50% wool - genius!) and a little Ralph Lauren romper for our trip to St.Thomas next week. :)

Then we headed to Buy Buy Baby for our newest purchase, le travel stroller. I decided we needed something that I could carry on the subway, in the airport and on trips when the Uppa Baby is too big and heavy to bring. As a sidenote, I do have to say Thank God for the Uppa and it's SUV wheels this week in the snow! I have been crushing through snowdrifts, pools of grey sludge, icy crosswalks.. the thing really performs! Anyway, after reading a ton of reviews I decided on the MacLaren Volo. It is their lightest stroller. It folds up easily, has a little strap to carry it, and it is super cute in black and white. I hear it is great quality and really does last forever so hopefully that is true and we will be pushing Smoosh off to preschool in it someday.

Wonderful Weekend, Wonderful Baby (right now)

My MIL was in town this weekend for a short and sweet trip since #1 It was her birthday on Saturday, and #2 If her work brings her anywhere within 5 states of us, she finds a way to get here! Totally understandable since she is on the West Coast.
We went out for sushi Friday night (with MIL holding baby and us getting to eat care free!) The Saturday we had wonderful time shopping in Soho in the snow. MIL loves to take us shopping, and we have our little circuit we do in Soho - Bloomingdales or AG for jeans or something for DH, up to MIL's favorite store Babette, down to my favorite store Jill Stuart, and over to Giggle to get something for Smoosh. Since I still have 10 lbs to go before buying any cute designer dresses, we skipped Jill Stuart this time.
Instead, I finally caved and got new jeans, 3 sizes above my normal size, but oh well. They are Paige, my favorite, and sooo comfortable. Fat hanging over the jeans does not feel good or look good so enter new jeans size X.
After all that shopping, we finally got a reservation at In the AM, we got sandwiches from a new place down the block. DH went to band practice, and I left Smoosh with MIL (eek!) and went and got my hair cut. Some things were in weird places afterwords, but still very successful. And I feel awesome in my new jeans and blown out layers. :)
Oh, and for the wonderful baby part. Not that he isn't always wonderful, but he has been sleeping IN HIS CRIB until 8:30 AM!!

Sleep Breakthrough!!

Just when I thought things were never going to get better.. Things have been crazy lately. Smooshie has been sleeping 100% in our bed (hates the crib, despises the co sleeper, laughs at the bouncer..) and nursing on demand alll night long. He had also ceased all naps and was getting sooo cranky. We tried No Cry Sleep solution, and while we now have tons of data on Smooshie's every waking and sleeping move, he was still not sleeping even with all the tricks implemented. So a friend gave me Weissbluth (sp?) and we have been easing in to that. We let him cry himself into a nap the other day which was tough, but he actually slept much better that night. He did half the night in the crib, then I brought him into bed to nurse and he stayed.

Last night we went out so we had a sitter from the co-op. We did his bed time routine at home and dropped him off at her house in his car seat at 8PM. I was terrified that he was going to be a nightmare, but he slept the entire time we were gone (3 hours) and when we got home I nursed him and put him in his crib. DH gave him a bottle of BM at some point and had to walk him around a little, then I nursed him at 4:30 -but this time put him back in his crib- and he stayed in there until 8AM! YAAY! I know it isn't exactly sleeping through the night, but it is a big step.

Smoosh LOVES his milky and I don't see him going without a night feed any time soon which is OK with me. Honestly, I really just want my bed and privacy with DH back. Since I co slept with my parents until a ridiculous age (6), I just don't want to fall into that pattern when I know it isn't what I want. It was great for me and my hippie parents, but not for us.

MIL comes tonight for the weekend, got to clean!!

More Registry Fun, Puff the Magic Dragon, and our first trip on the subway (finally)!

Yesterday was a big day. My friend got us tickets to a benefit concert to see Paul Yarrow (of Peter, Paul & Mary, Puff the Magic Dragon, etc..) at the Housing Works bookstore in Soho yesterday morning. It was going to be my first big day out in the city alone with the babe and the Ergo, BUT it was 16 degrees, so DH agreed to drive me. The concert was totally crazy in that New Yorkers-with-kids way - jam packed with Bugaboos and McLarens, not enough space, pushy parents. Somehow I managed to squeeze my way in there and find seats - feeling and looking like a pack animal with the Ergo, the winter coat, the bag, hat and scarf getup, the baby (in his snowsuit and hat getup). Paul himself was a little strange, but Smoosh was mesmerized when he was actually singing. After berating the sound guy for awhile, he started with fox and hen song ( a favorite from my childhood) and did a few more kids songs- starting and stopping a lot, bringing kids on the stage, one of the microphone stands almost falling down onto the kids sitting in the front, caught at the last minute by a lunging parent from the back, more berating.. Apparently Mary passed away of bone marrow cancer so for him this was a tribute to her, and he sang "Leaving on a Jet Plane" with all the adults singing along. Smoosh passed out at this point. The finale was of course "Puff the Magic dragon" and he asked 10 kids to come up on the stage. Well, this is where it got very New Yorkish as every parent there pushed their child onto the stage and pulled out their camera, desperate to get a shot. Pretty much everyone was on the stage, or trying to be in the stage, at that point so we made our escape and skipped the meet-and-greet photo op. Next time maybe.
Peter, Paul and Mary in the glory days...

My girlfriend I was with is pregnant (yayy) and just found out the gender (girl!!) so I was asked to help with the registry, being such an experienced NYC parent all of a sudden and all. Since we were in Soho, we headed over to fancy pants Giggle. Giggle has the most adorable things ever, but I didn't register there because it seemed a little too pricey and didn't seem to have enough of the basics. However, they seem to have expanded their Giggle line and maybe adjusted to the economy a little, because we found pretty much everything. Their line Giggle basics is organic cotton things made by Under the Nile - adorable! We got the entire layette , towels and an adorable sheet set. They have the BEST toys - wooden, European, nothing flashy or plastic. We found the pump, stroller, bath products (they call it the "spa", not bathroom hehe- fabulous). Seriously, everything there is adorable and I was having total registry envy. I think I will bring MIL there when she visits this weekend to pick out that Valentine's present she said she wants to get Smoosh. ;) I did get him a little "lovie" bunny thing (The sleep books say to introduce something like this for them to sleep with. So far he doesn't seem to be getting too attached). My GF also got him a little sippy cup for being such a good sport.
New bunny friend..

After that we grabbed an organic lunch at this cute place Local on Sullivan Street. Then we descended into the ground for Smooshie's first subway ride. It went well, he was totally passed out thankfully.
Next, for her suburban friends (she is from Tulsa and will have a shower there too) we headed to Buy Buy Baby which seemed totally low-brow after the urban sanctuary of Giggle. Still, for a Sunday it wasn't too bad and we got an amazing breast pump expert to break down all the Medela models for us. I even ended up getting a hands free pumping bra to hook up to my Medela Swing! The husbands met us there (they are in the band together) and we all went out for some Mexican (yes, it was dinner time by then).
Day in the city with baby, check.

Eek, more poisonous toys..

This was in the Daily News a few weeks ago..



More trouble in toyland. Now that lead has been banned from children’s products, some Chinese manufacturers have been substituting the even more dangerous heavy metal cadmium, especially in costume jewelry, an Associated Press investigation reveals.

Cadmium is a known carcinogen that, like lead, can delay brain development in young children, leading to learning disabilities. Research also shows that long-term exposure can cause cancer and kidney problems.

The AP purchased 103 pieces at national and regional store chains in New York, Ohio, Texas and California. A lab analysis revealed that the most contaminated trinket contained 91 percent cadmium by weight, while other objects tested at dangerous levels including 89 percent, 86 percent and 84 percent by weight. Twelve percent of the pieces contained at least 10 percent cadmium.

Some of the most toxic toys were bracelet charms sold at Wal-Mart, as well as at the Claire’s jewelry franchise and in Disney’s "The Princess and the Frog" movie-themed pendants.

Even more worrisome, some of the items easily shed their metal, raising additional concerns about children’s exposure to toxins.

Kids don’t have to swallow cadmium to be exposed – simply sucking on or biting costume jewelry with high levels of cadmium can hit them with regular doses of the metal.

"There's nothing positive that you can say about this metal. It's a poison," warns Bruce A. Fowler, a toxicologist and cadmium specialist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2010/01/11/2010-01-11_toxic_lead_replaced_in_childrens_toys_trinkets_by_something_even_worse__cadmium.html#ixzz0eHv9aPEL