It’s no secret there’s a “mom way” of thinking of things, and a “dad way” of thinking of things.
Greyson called me on the way to work to give me a rundown of the morning as he always does. I have to be at work at 4:00am so he’s the one who gets Charlotte up and out the door for school. Before the call he sent me this picture…
Here was our conversation…
A: “Hey! I love the picture, she looks happy. What did she eat?”
G: “Stuff the dog likes best. That way I don’t have to do extra clean-up you know? Ginger can take care the floor so we can get out of here faster.”
Genius.
Absolute genius.
Why didn’t I think of that? It’s “daddy thinking” at it’s finest.
Posted in Daddy
Sunday at church we had Charlotte dedicated. In the Baptist church this is like a christening or baptism. (I feel I need to note we are not “fire and brimstone” Baptists, but very liberal, progressive Baptists. We love Jesus, and beer.) Parents present their child to the church and pledge to raise their child with God. It’s often a very nice formality for families. For us, it was a really moving and beautiful day.
Mom gave Charlotte the little bonnet she’s wearing in the hospital. The poem that came with it explained how she would wear it on christening day and then it would be a handkerchief on her wedding day. I had it embroidered with her initials, her birthday, and Sunday’s date. As sweet as this is, Greyson and I couldn’t help but giggle at our little Amish-looking baby. Greyson asked her, “Charlotte, do you want to go raise a barn or churn some butter?”
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| Little bonnet all askew. I love it! |
Greyson admitted he was nervous. We sat there with her in church trying as best we could to keep her calm and entertained. She wouldn’t let go of the bulletin without crying. I didn’t really want to let her hold it while we were in front of everyone, but you try to take something away from a 10 month old. It’s the end of the world, apparently. We were called forward and read a very beautiful liturgy that introduced Charlotte to the church.
The Minister then comes and gets Charlotte and walks her around the sanctuary to introduce her to everyone. She said Charlotte’s name came from a queen and she must descend from royalty. I had to chuckle at that one, looking at my funny family over to the side. The further the Minister walked away from us, Charlotte became a little more distressed. The congregation laughed as we waved at her to let her know it was okay. Eventually, she had me walk with her to give her a paci and a little comfort. Ah babies! My heart filled up and my eyes filled up with tears as the congregation prayed for our little one. When it was done I whisked her off to the nursery to play.
I have to admit I was a little nervous about having Mom and my step dad, and Dad and his wife all at church, and our house. Honestly, it went as well as it could have. My sister came into town from Washington, D.C. and my step-brother and step-sister came and gave her beautiful gifts. My dad gave her a little baby bracelet that says “Jesus Loves Me This I Know.” I guess she can wear it to church if she’ll leave it on. We are so blessed to have family that can put all differences aside for Charlotte. I was so happy!
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| Mom and Jeff with our little one. My grandma gave her the dress. You can’t tell but it is pale pink with hand embroidered lace, so sweet! |
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| The spread! |
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| Strawberry cake, yum! |
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| Gerbera Daisies make me think of my girl. |
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| Funny Aunt Julie! |
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| Sweet Uncle Bryce and Aunt Tahlia gave her this outfit. He wore a pink tie in honor of our girl! |
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| Pretty Aunt Tahlia! |
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| Our girl! I love those little teeth! |
Posted in Uncategorized
Dear Charlotte,The other day I watched you walk, WALK halfway across the living room, reach into a storage bin of toys, pull out the toy you wanted, and sit down to play with it.
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You walking with a (plastic) coat hanger. You love coat hangers, go figure.
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What?! Surely you can’t be the same little squishy, pink creature who first opened her eyes and could hardly grab my finger in the hospital 10 months ago, but you are.
I know I say it every month, but you have been amazing! It was an eventful month for you, Miss C. You went to the beach. You got your first two teeth. You graduated to the “Older Infants” class at school. You took your first steps.
It’s funny. You will take five little unsteady steps, plop down on your booty, and then crawl the rest of the way to your destination of choice. This is usually a place Daddy and I would prefer you avoid, as you attempt to play with something we’d just assume you never touch.
Usually you like to swat, grab, or pull up on Ginger. Your dog is one tough little trooper! She graciously lets you pull her fur as Daddy and I say, “No Charlotte! Be gentle with your doggie!” You get so excited when you see Ginger and she gets so excited when you get in your highchair so she can clean up the inevitable mess around you.
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Ginger says “Drop it! Drop it, please!” I’m not sure why you’re out-of-sorts here.
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I’ve dubbed meal times as “60/40 events”. I would say about 60% of the finger foods you attempt end up on the floor. I think about 40% gets in your belly. We’re still feeding you Stage 3 baby food as well, but you are seriously more interested in feeding yourself puffs, cheese, veggies, deli meat, pasta, and with persuasion, bananas.
Daddy and I are so proud of you and all your little milestones. You’re such a good baby. We count our blessings everyday and thank God you are a healthy, strong child.
I love you, my darling, darling girl.
Love,
Mama
Posted in baby milestones, Charlotte letters
A friend asked me this week, “How long did you breastfeed?” I paused and said, “Oh! I still am.” This response was met with a slight look of surprise. I went on, “Well, I mean, I’ve gone this long. I might as well go the full 12 months!” Charlotte will be 10 months old tomorrow. (::sniff:: ::sniff) The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for at least 12 months. Another mom friend asked me, “How have you done it for so long?”
Honestly, I’m not really sure.
I had no idea I was so in the minority here, but apparently I am. I noticed most of the babies’ bottles in the fridge in Charlotte’s class were marked with “F” for Formula versus her bottles marked with “BM”.
(That’s Breast Milk, not the other BM, but after I typed it I thought “eww”, and felt it needed further explanation.) Then I read the latest
US Breastfeeding Report Card released last month by the CDC. It showed 28.3% of mothers were still breastfeeding at 12 months. So, yeah, I’m in the minority here.
If you didn’t read it, take a look at
this post on breastfeeding and formula. I got a lot of emails and Tweets about that one.
I’ve really been shocked at how well breastfeeding has worked for me. Make no mistake, my Medela pump owns me. Owns me. During a typical workday I’m lucky if I nurse Charlotte twice. Now that she want’s food, it may be even less. I pump three times on top of that. I’ve just now started cutting back a pump, so I’m wondering what that will mean for my supply. I’ve said before, I’m just lucky my bra cups runneth over. Most moms who stop nursing tell me it’s because they couldn’t keep up supply once they went back to work.
I’m really glad I chose to breastfeed. It’s been wonderful. I’ve heard from some that Charlotte didn’t suffer any crazy sicknesses these 10 months because she continued to get antibodies from breast milk. I don’t know how true that is. I’m no immunologist, but she seems healthy to me. Her pediatrician’s office promoted breastfeeding and had lactation consultants on their nursing staff. That was extremely helpful! Selfishly, I slipped back into my jeans pretty quickly postpartum thanks to the milk.
Eventually the boobs will go into retirement until Baby Version 2.0. I have several feelings about weaning…
- Sadness– “Oh! My baby is no longer a baby! She’s so big! Her babyhood has been too short!”
- Pride– “I’m a milk-making machine! I’ve done it for 10 months! I’ve never had to buy a single thing of formula, ol’ Bessie has nothing on me!”
- Happiness and Peace– “Okay, I’ll be ready to stop after she turns 1. It will be time. For almost two years my body has been working for her. Pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy, and nursing for a year. It’s all been for her. It will be hard to break that tie, but she’ll be ready. My body has helped make her body strong.”
- Excitement– “My body will become my own again. I’ll get back on a birth control pill that helps clear up the pimply disaster that is my skin instead of the one that helps ensure a good milk supply. Maybe I’ll have a few more martinis.”
I know groups like
La Leche League promote extended breastfeeding, but I don’t want to do that. Their book
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding was excellent when I started nursing, but I didn’t find the chapter on weaning particularly helpful. I don’t think I want to be breastfeeding Charlotte at 2 or 3 years old. That’s just a bit much for me. If they can ask for a boob, it’s going on too long.
I need some advice blogosphere. Weaning. What are your opinions on it? How did it work for you?
Posted in breastfeeding
My husband says one of the best things and one of the worst things about me is the same thing, my extreme expectations.
My great expectations bring unbridled enthusiasm, positive energy, and well-planned attire to events. Unfortunately, these expectations are seldom met, leading to frustrations with dream-crushing reality while being overdressed.
The latest example came last week during Charlotte’s school picnic. I was so psyched for this little preschool soiree! It was the first time we would get to see all the families and parents at the daycare. They had a catered hotdog/hamburger dinner, Snocones, a dunking booth, yay! Charlotte had on the most adorable picnicish outfit. I donned a little summer frock after knocking off work a little early. I was going to get pictures of Charlotte and all her baby friends in the class together at the picnic.
Can you feel my disappointment coming? Only one other family from Charlotte’s class came. That was cool. Charlotte loves Cadence and her parents are great! But, both babies were tired. We were there for like 15 minutes.
Greyson said there are multiple things I failed to consider as I formed the image of this picnic paradise in my mind.
- It was 4:30-5:00ish when Charlotte would be taking her nap and then eating dinner.
- That’s when all the babies would need naps and dinner.
- Babies don’t eat hotdogs/hamburgers.
- Babies can’t participate in carnival/picnic fun.
Oh, right. Those things are all true. Greyson said, “Amy, how does your head not explode with the expectations you fill it with?”
I should remember all this going into the weekend. Sunday is Charlotte’s baby dedication at church. (It’s like a Christening or Baptism.) Family is coming into town and friends will be joining us. I’m trying not to have too many expectations, but it’s hard! Sometimes moments like this pop up, just filling my mama-brain with the possiblity of more cuteness…
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| This was Charlotte and Cadence at school the other day. They had on near-matching outfits. Eeeekkk! |
Posted in mothers
