The Beast

Most people just laugh politely when I tell them that I have named my hair "The Beast." You know who you are. So, here is proof. This is why you don't want curly hair. Here is my hair in all it's untamed glory. Scary, huh?

First Saturday Fun

Sticking to my tradition of posting events only after a great deal of time has passed, here are some pics of the fruits of our labors at Home Depot on the 1st. We have heard for a while about the fun (and free!!) crafts they hold for kids on the first Saturday of every month. This was the first month we dragged ourselves out of the house by 10am (as if we haven't already been up for 4 hours) and went looking for some fun with hammers and glue. Much to my chagrin, the craft was held outside (it is August in VIRGINIA, y'all) but the kids really seemed to enjoy the opportunity to work with tools and put together these message boards. And once Jason and I wiped the sweat from our eyes, we saw a neat project. The Michael/Jason team finished first, but the Josh/Irene team put all the pieces in the right place and direction. With the added bonus of tool aprons, balloons and pins, I am sure we will be headed over on September 5th. I recommend it if you haven't gone.

On becoming an Author

I recently borrowed the book "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" published by LLL from the library. Just reading it made me want to vomit and quit breastfeeding simultaneously. The book mentions several times what a relaxing and wonderful experience bf is and how fantastic and sensual it is for the mother. I have my reasons for bf Ben, but that is not even on the list. It also says that plugged ducts (sorry to any males reading this) are the body's way of telling the mother to relax and slow down. Or, from my experience, that your baby slept a blissful 10 hours and if that isn't normal for you, baaaaaad things happen. Painful things happen.

So, after grousing to Jason a bit, we decided that we should write our own book. I think this is what our table of contents might look like:

Breastfeeding Sucks; a book for the rest of us

1: Intro: The baby is going to do what? where?

2: If labor wasn't painful for you (epidural notwithstanding), then neither will breastfeeding (and no, they won't give you an epidural to help you breastfeed).

3: Attached at the hip, and other more embarrassing places.

4: If she feels like a cow and makes milk like a cow, give her chocolate to make her feel better.

5: Things that crawl across the floor in the night and other sleep-deprivation hallucinations.

6: For larger chested women: A fortress of pillows may be your only hope.

7: For your husband: If you want my body and you think I'm sexy, get a number and stand in line because that is how we got all these kids in the first place.

8: Mythbusters:

Breastfeeding is NOT a free pass to fit into those jeans you wore in college.

You can breastfeed and still be sad.

Some geniuses were fed formula.

9: Breastfeeding will be difficult and painful, so if you choose to do it you will have to just suck it up.

Clearly, I am a little bitter about this whole thing. And I may be even more so this afternoon when I try on the dress I plan to wear to my cousin's wedding tomorrow. But much of my frustration is born of false expectations. If so many people, books and web pages hadn't constantly been touting the benefits of breastfeeding (which only happen for a few people and in reality not for many that I know), and just told me, "breastfeeding will be difficult and painful, just suck it up," I might have felt less betrayed by the entire experience. After 4 1/2 months, I haven't lost a single pound from breastfeeding. Ben is still covered in eczema like Josh was/is. I still had to go on antidepressants for PPD. And, because of my dimensions, there is no real way to do this in public discretely.

I am, however, just utterly amazed that we have made it this far and if I ever write a book (not really going to happen), I would have a whole page of people to thank for their support (no matter what my decision is) and love. So, we'll keep trucking and stick to it until I decide to quit.

Food!

Not that breastfeeding Ben every 2 hours isn't an absolutely delightful experience, but we decided to start him on some cereal yesterday. Here is the before picture.

Going in for our first rice taste.
We got mixed results:

Peer Pressure

Josh's fiancee came to spend a couple of days with us this week. We loved having Ella here. The boys loved playing with her and I loved the fact that for two whole days the boys didn't feel the need to "go dino!" so I had three human children playing around the house. It was a nice break.

However, as is true with even the best of friends, they did get on each others' nerves. Josh has this irritating habit of laughing manically at nothing when he gets tired. He will move a body part or a toy or make a strange noise and this will set him off into a strange giggle that gets tiring after the first five minutes. And, naturally, those first five minutes are just him warming up. At one point, Ella came upstairs and told us that Josh was bothering her. He followed giving us a good demonstration of the noise she found irritating.

And this is where it gets good.

Ella turns to him and says, "You better not laugh too much or you will break your laugh box." This stops Josh immediately. He becomes very concerned and they go downstairs to continue to discuss Josh's potential "medical" problems. I figure our problem is solved. Hallelujah Ella!

At dinner that night, Josh, ever the skeptic, asks Jason if he really has a laugh box. And this is where Jason destroys a beautiful thing. Always an advocate for the truth, Jason tells him (get ready for this) the truth!!! Ella, however, insists it exists and shows Josh where it is. Under cross-examination, Jason discovers Ella's source to be SpongeBob SquarePants. Jason reassures Josh that he has no laugh box and it can't be broken, but now that Ella has produced empirical evidence of the location of the box, Josh is beginning to believe her. I, in an attempt to support my husband (even though he is ruining our chances to get Josh to stop doing this constantly), am keeping out of the discussion, but silently rooting for Ella.

Fun in Winchester

I am a Northern Virginia snob. I admit it. Although intellectually I know there are other places in Virginia to go and do fun activities, I have a difficult time accepting that. But, when we got free passes in the mail to go to children's museum in Winchester (which is closer to us than DC is, but I have never been there), I figured I should broaden my horizons. So, we drove an hour to get there only to be a bit disappointed when we saw the museum as it seemed kind of dumpy and small.

Then we got a lesson in not putting too much into a first impression because this place was GREAT and we spent 5 hours there.

They had a simple machines area, building tables, puppets, costumes, hospital playroom, a pretend ambulance, a Native American room, a climbing wall, a craft area, a ball room and much, much more!!

In the words of the great scientific mind, Bill Nye the Science Guy, "Science Rules!!"

Roly Poly Ben

A couple of weeks ago, Ben decided that it was high time he took this body for spin and see what it could do.

Using his mighty baby abs and still keeping fingers in his mouth, pulled himself over onto his side.
Not satisfied with the view, he continued the motion to its logical conclusion.
Ta da!
And, boy, was he mad.