Date Night December 27, 2008

So my sister and her husband, who are visiting us from Portland, offered to babysit for us and let us get out of the house together… for a date!  My other sister, Adrienne, had also offered to do this for us when she visited a few weeks ago, but we weren’t able to pull ourselves together in time to take advantage of her offer… and frankly, I don’t know if we were ready.  Maybe the issue of readiness was just with me.

But we got our plan on this time, and went and saw a 2:30 movie and then had an early dinner.  The earliness of the date was due to Amelia’s tendency to be fussy during the “happy hour” period of 6-8 pm.  I couldn’t, in all fairness, leave April & Jason with our daughter at Top Fuss.

I had a nice time, being a grown up with my husband in public, but frankly the whole thing was rather disorienting.  It didn’t help that the movie I chose, The Spirit, was so hideously awful that I kept falling asleep.  Dinner was quite nice, though the service could have been better and I am restricting my dairy and high-acid food intake to see if that was giving Amelia painful gas.  My breasts started hurting from engorgement around Hour 3, and I was really sleep – more so than I realize when I’m at home.

We had some nice conversation over dinner – though granted it was about things like getting our wills written and what we’ll do if the flex-time work arrangements we’ve rigged with our employers fall through, so not very cheerful per se – and I had some gelato (OK, dairy, yes, sorry) as we walked back to the car.  Amelia did great with her aunt & uncle, and ate a lot while we were gone.

I came home wondering about balance – and not just foremilk-hindmilk!  I suppose in time I will learn how to be a mother, a wife, and an adult woman concurrently without any jerkiness in the shifting of gears.  Or perhaps I’m approaching it all wrong and it’s not a matter of changing my face but blending the roles?  Anyway you slice or mix it, I’m still wobbly in this learning process; I have arrived to the point that I’m not terrified by the amount I love my daughter, but I’m not sure how to care as much about everyone else as I do about Amelia.  Wish me luck on that…

errands December 11, 2008

My sister and I ran four errands today, and it was… a little strenuous! Lessons learned: don’t run around with the baby in the late afternoon when she likes to cluster-feed.

We did Michael’s first, and I finally got the perfect fit on the Moby wrap – Amelia was high on my chest and fell asleep right away, so I didn’t have to stabilize her little bobble head. Shopping went well and she only woke up once, in order to switch the cheek she was resting on my chest.

In the diaper change between Michael’s & Lowes, I learned that the backseat diaper change is a great way tokill your back, and nursed my baby some in a 20 mph headwind.

At HEB, Amelia got sick of the Moby once and for all while the slowest deli counter guy on the planet sliced me a pound of oven-roasted turkey and muenster cheese, on a one. Luckily, Adrienne agreed to go through the checkout line for me while I took the baby back to the car to nurse some more. REALLY need to figure out hoe to go from the newborn chest wrap to a nursing wrap in that Moby.

Finally, to Gold’s Gym to get a swipe card because I lost mine, and this way Adrienne can work out while she’s here. Amelia cried for much of the drive home except while Adrienne jiggled her car seat. Yes, I know the car seat shouldn’t jiggle. I think Tom needs to check the installation of my car seat base…

Anyway, I’m slowly edging toward SuperMom, at least when my sister’s got my back. It’s very touching to see how much Adrienne loves Amelia – her tenderness and enthusiasm with the baby is so sweet! Also, Adrienne makes truly superb macaroni and cheese, which we really enjoyed for dinner tonight.

4 weeks December 8, 2008

Amelia was born 4 weeks ago, today.

Here’s a photo update:

Huge December 4, 2008

Long time no post, I know.

I’ll catch you all up on the Thanksgiving weekend tomorrow,  but for now, I just need to share this milestone:

Today, wearing the baby in the Moby D wrap, I cooked dinner.  I didn’t warm something up or  just brown some ground beef and pour a jar of sauce over it.  No, I made pecan-crusted flounder and arugula pesto spaghetti.  And it was GOOD.   And Amelia was all nestled up against my chest, sleeping or looking around in amazement, the whole time.

Also I slept in until 9 AM today.  It was a good day.

walkies November 14, 2008

Amelia and I took our first walk today.  Tom got the BOB all set up with the car seat adaptor last night, and I had planned to get out by about 9ish but Miss A had other ideas.  Finally, she had a big poop (a friend advised me to wait for this felicitous event before leaving the house) and we were able to dress and strap in and amble carefully around the neighborhood in the sunshine and fresh air for about 30 minutes.

She found it all very bright and squinty, I think, but it was nice to enjoy the beautiful 70 degree day before the cold front rolls in tonight.  Last day of Fall before Winter?  Hard to say in Texas, but I’m glad for the field trip nonetheless.

Hello, big world!

My dear friend Jane, who dropped everything to fly to Austin on Sunday upon hearing I went into early labor, left this morning for Charlotte and points beyond.  She drove us to the hospital when we transported, was present for Amelia’s birth, took us home when we sprung ourselves, and took good care of both Tom and I during the last week.  She cooked for us and did dishes, laundry, and anything else we needed, all while working remotely on deadlines that didn’t care about my early birdie.    We’ve been friends since we were 19, and the bonus of having her here this week is yet another example of the weird serendipity that came in to play with Amelia’s very unexpected arrival.  Thank you Jane – can’t wait to see you again in March!

Amelia has a taste for adventure, just like her Aunt Jane!