Big Step

Brenden is sleeping in his own room tonight for the first time. I felt a little sad and anxious while moving his bassinet out of our room, but so far Brenden is sleeping fine in his crib. He's too big for his bassinet and we need our own room back. Hopefully the night goes well and we can all get some rest. Brenden is turning out to be a great sleeper at night; now if we can just get him to nap somewhere other than our chests.



Today was a fun day. Brenden and I met Maria for lunch and gave Adam some time to himself at home. We had delicious Indian food, and Brenden was very smitten with Maria. He preferred sitting on my lap to hers, but only so he could grin and stare at her. Brenden is turning out to be quite the ladies man. Other than his Daddy, he's not usually impressed by men. But when a lady comes up and tells him how cute he is, he turns on the charm big time. Here's a picture of Brenden helping Maria decide what to order:



After lunch Brenden and I headed over to the Northgate shopping center to buy a few new things for the apartment. Brenden was a champ, even though it was close to his naptime and it took me FOREVER to figure out how to get into the Ross store. I knew there was a handicap accessible (and therefore stroller-accessible) entrance somewhere, but we rode the elevator three times trying to find the right floor. I found several things I was looking for at great prices, but then we had to wait in line for 15 minutes. Ross (similar to a TJ Maxx) has great deals but terrible customer service. By then Brenden was done with his stroller so I put him in his baby carrier. My back is still sore!



Our local Target has started carrying groceries, and it is so much cheaper. It's also more convenient because Adam can pick up everything we need in one trip and I don't have to make a separate trip for household items. (Yes, Adam even does the grocery shopping!)



We are trying to decide whether or not to get flu shots. Brenden will be old enough for a flu shot in December, but I think we're leaning toward not getting him vaccinated. At least we have a couple of months to see if other kids have reactions to the shots. Our pediatrician recommended that Adam and I both get seasonal flu shots at least. I think I'll get one, since I'm exposed to a lot of people at work and don't want to bring anything home to Brenden. Another thing that will help is to keep breastfeeding him and not let strangers touch him. Most people know better, but once or twice someone has tried to hold his hand!

Role Reversal

Brenden "reading" 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed tonight

Great day today! Adam and Brenden came to have lunch with me. Brenden was overwhelmed by all the adults oohing and ahhing down at him in his stroller, so he started crying. I carried him for the short walk from the office to the restaurant, and he kept stretching toward Adam like he wanted to go to him. It was 80% sweet and made me 20% jealous. Adam is a wonderful dad - absolutely the best - and Brenden has great days with him every day. I love my job (more on that later), but now and then I feel like I'm missing out with Brenden. Still, I think we're doing what's best for us and it makes me appreciate our evenings and weekends more.

Once we got to the restaurant, Brenden calmed down and we had a great lunch. I had the butternut squash soup and pear salad, the perfect lunch for a rainy fall day. Brenden got in a progressively better mood as we ate, and by the time the check came he was having a very animated conversation with the lamp next to our table. The restaurant has some crazy decor with lots of rich color and lamps everywhere, and Brenden thought it was hilarious.

Work is going great. I have been thinking about taking project management classes in preparation for earning my PMP (Project Management Professional) certification, but I was nervous to ask my boss if the company would pay for it. The company is doing relatively well, but there have been a few layoffs in other departments. I decided to go for it today and ask my boss, and he was very enthusiastic. I didn't even have to ask if the company would pay for it; I just told him I was thinking about taking the classes and he said the company would pick up the tab. I still need another year and a half of experience before I qualify to take the PMP exam, but with my boss's blessing I joined the Project Management Institute so I'll have access to classes and other resources. I'm also signing up for a couple of classes to brush up on my Excel and Microsoft Project skills. My boss talked about the importance of continuing education and gave me kudos for making my own plan to move forward. Very cool!

It's ironic that I'm reading Barbara Ehrenreich's This Land is Their Land right now. I loved her book Nickel and Dimed, about her experiment working minimum-wage jobs (and almost starving to death in the process). I went to her book signing a year ago when This Land came out, and I'm just now getting around to reading it. Unfortunately I don't like it as much. From reading it you'd think every employer in the US enjoys sucking the life out of their employees. I'm sure some people can relate to that (at least people who work for Walmart), but it annoys me that her statements are so extreme. She's the Michael Moore of print journalism. I think they both have valid points, and they're right to be upset, but the exaggeration and air of moral superiority weaken their arguments.

P.S. We found a table! We didn't have any luck at local stores, so we ordered one from Amazon. We're a bit nervous about ordering it based on a little picture on the website, but the price was right and it solved our problem of how to get it home. Hopefully we're not disappointed. In a month or so Brenden will be sitting at the table with us trying out real food for the first time!

Mommy Myths

I had a really good day at work yesterday - one of those days where I came close enough to a deadline to get the adrenaline pumping, but not so close as to break out in a cold sweat. During my now-short bus ride home, I reflected on how much better my life is right now than I thought it would be. This happens to me a lot - I hear other people talk about how hard something is, and I get scared.

When I was pregnant, I prepared myself for a really tough first year as a new mom. I expected to be overweight, stressed out, and exhausted. I was worried about the affect on our relationship and my work. You might wonder why I wanted to have a child so badly in the first place. Maybe deep down I knew it wouldn't be so bad. In fact, most parts of my life are so much better. The only casualties of being a mom are my tummy and my REM sleep. I lost all of my baby weight, but my tummy is wrinkly and my belly button still looks weird. So I bought a one-piece "mom" bathing suit - problem solved.

Sleeping is still my biggest problem, but even that could be much worse. I'm usually only up for a total of one hour at night, but after 4 months of this I often fantasize about holing up somewhere and sleeping for a day straight. Adam gets up with Brenden any time I ask, but it wouldn't be pretty if I went a whole night without nursing.

Our mission for this weekend is to find a new dining table. You wouldn't believe how few furniture stores there are in Seattle. There are some high-end stores we can't even afford to park near, and then you have the thrift stores. We're not opposed to buying something second-hand, but with Brenden and a Toyota Corolla, getting it home would be a challenge. We need to find a store with moderately-priced, mass-produced furniture that offers home delivery. There are lots of stores like that in our hometown, but the delivery fee might be a bit much.

4 Months Old!

Brenden turned 4 months old yesterday! He had a rough time at his 4 month check up. He cried as soon as we layed him down on the exam table. He probably remembered that the last time he was there, the dr pulled apart some fused skin on his pee pee (a complication from the circumcision). He cried again when the dr dug some wax out of his ear. He hates it when I wash his ears, so I think they're just sensitive.

Then he had the dreaded shots. For some reason he had a lot harder time than at 2 months. He screamed inconsolably for about 15 minutes. Then this morning he came down with a fever, the first he's ever had since he came home from the hospital. It happened on my "shift" (Adam and I trade off on weekend mornings so we can both sleep in). It was 101.3, and I wasn't sure how freaked out to be. So I talked to the after hours nurse and she said fevers are common after immunizations and to just monitor it. It's down to 100.1 and I gave Brenden some tylenol to bring it down further. He's been very sleepy and not as excited as usual, bur otherwise seems fine.

Brenden now weighs 17 lbs, 3 oz. His height and weight are that of an average 6-month old! He's hitting all of the developmental milestones. The dr says he's also developmentally ready to sleep in his own room and fall asleep on his own. We're planning to start putting him in his own room soon, but we're still torn on sleep training. I really like our pediatrician - she agreed that although "crying it out is the recommendation, it's not right for everyone. She also doesn't recommend any solids until 6 months except rice cereal, which I agree with. I've read several places that we should srart solids now, but that doesn't seem right to me. One book even had tips for propping your baby up so they can eat. That seems so silly. Brenden is developing an interest in food though. He loves to watch me eat and this morning he grabbed my glass of tea while I was drinking and tried to put it to his mouth! I thought that was the most amazing thing ever.

I'mhome with Brenden today while Adam is back at the house doing ANOTHER coat of paint. That pale blue just does not want to go away. If Brenden starts feeling better, I'll try to do some more unpacking. Then tomorrow we're headed back to Edmonds for a nice breakfast and to clean the carpets. They're perfectly clean, but the landlord asked us to do it. We already lost half the deposit because it's not rented yet, so we don't want to lose any more. It's no wonder it's not rented - it's not a nice place! When I went back to clean I kept thinking, "what were we thinking??" The apartment is so much nicer, and I'm getting used to the noise. I still want to try a few things to block the traffic noise, because it gets very loud at rush hour.