Friday, November 26, 2010
Hand-me-down
Here's Amelia in her green snowsuit last year
and Micah in it this morning.
He is an angry starfish.
Micah might not want to wear this coat next year...
Dads and babes on the way to the park
and Micah in it this morning.
He is an angry starfish.
Micah might not want to wear this coat next year...
Dads and babes on the way to the park
Cousins at Thanksgiving
Micah!
Amelia and Micah Skyped with Luli and Guru
and played in the Jumparoo.
We were thankful to spend the day with family!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Untitled
It is winter here. We woke up this morning (at 4:30, but I don't even want to talk about that) to a very lightly snow-coated world. Under the full moon, it was pretty and peaceful and I baked a pumpkin pie, but now the sun is out and it is windy and bright and terrible. Snow sparkle in the wind so you can see where the wind is going. And the wind is swirling.
I dislike winter. I think I have reptilian roots somewhere and part of my soul freezes when it is cold outside. I am vaguely but constantly itchy and grouchy. Baking, putting up Christmas trees, and drinking hot chocolate help, as does yoga and wearing my bathrobe all day long. Or big sweaters. As long as they don't itch.
I have been writing this morning so that explains some of the weirdness of my opening paragraphs. I am writing about dreams and from the voice of Ryan in Teen Mom, so I am bit out of my normal speaking voice.
We got the results about the lead. Turns out there is a little lead in the dust in several places in our house. We had some work done on the porch that exposed some old paint and some unseen chipped paint inside. So now the outside is cleaned and the inside has been touched up and I am doing to try to mop every other day. Hopefully that will solve the problem. Amelia will be retested in two more months.
I feel guilty for buying an old house and for not mopping it enough. You read all these articles and things that encourage moms to let the housework go a little--and then you find out there is lead in the dust on your floor. The irony is I sweep twice or even three times a day some days. But that just sweeps the lead dust around. Horrifying.
Something about winter is making it very clear to me that we have actually MOVED to Colorado and are not just here on an extended visit. I feel a little shocked. It also has to do with our first experience here that made me realize that we are essentially all alone. We had norovirus. (This was not actually diagnosed by a doctor but it was some sort of terrible stomach virus so I am calling it norovirus.) Amelia had mild symptoms last Saturday, the night before we were leaving for Santa Fe for a week (Dean had a conference for work). Saturday night, I also had symptoms, much less mild than Amelia's. All night. It was terrible. So at about 5:30 Sunday morning, I faced a dilemma. Option 1: In the aftermath of a terrible stomach virus, with a baby who also might still have a stomach virus, get on a plane. Option 2: Stay home, alone, with a stomach virus, and take care of a baby who might still have a stomach virus. Alone.
I have some very nice friends here, but they have babies too. And it takes a special friend to come over and take care of your baby and be exposed to your stomach virus so they can take said virus home to their babies. Pretty much the only person you can ask to do that is your mom. And all moms in my life are about 1500 miles away.
So I decided that if I could keep down some crackers and ginger ale, and if Amelia was okay, I would go. I did and she was, so we went.
We had a nice time in Santa Fe after about Tuesday. (Dean spent Monday battling the norovirus. To any Federal Public Defenders who find themselves feeling a bit under the weather this week, we offer our deepest apologies.) However, Amelia was oddly whiny for most of the week. I don't know if she missed her crib and her Gee and her high chair and her nightly YoBaby Yogurt Drink or if she was perplexed that we had apparently moved to a hotel room or what. But she was whiny. It got old. Also, she slept great in the hotel till the last night, when she woke up 3 times. And she has been making up 2-3 times a night since we got home Sunday.
We are still nursing. I am perplexed. Sometimes I want to quit and sometimes I don't want it to end. Before we left Amelia had pretty much weaned herself to 3 nursing sessions a day but traveling always makes her revert to the breastfeeding habits of a newborn and now it's like every time she sees me she dives for the boobs.
Who knows. Maybe after Christmas we will go cold turkey. We leave for NC again in about 3 and half weeks and I don't see the point in making any huge changes before then. I think after that we are going to swear off all travel till the spring.
This is not the cheerful Amelia Update I had intended to write. But now Amelia is awake. Until we meet again, my friends, drink a cup of hot chocolate for me.
I dislike winter. I think I have reptilian roots somewhere and part of my soul freezes when it is cold outside. I am vaguely but constantly itchy and grouchy. Baking, putting up Christmas trees, and drinking hot chocolate help, as does yoga and wearing my bathrobe all day long. Or big sweaters. As long as they don't itch.
I have been writing this morning so that explains some of the weirdness of my opening paragraphs. I am writing about dreams and from the voice of Ryan in Teen Mom, so I am bit out of my normal speaking voice.
We got the results about the lead. Turns out there is a little lead in the dust in several places in our house. We had some work done on the porch that exposed some old paint and some unseen chipped paint inside. So now the outside is cleaned and the inside has been touched up and I am doing to try to mop every other day. Hopefully that will solve the problem. Amelia will be retested in two more months.
I feel guilty for buying an old house and for not mopping it enough. You read all these articles and things that encourage moms to let the housework go a little--and then you find out there is lead in the dust on your floor. The irony is I sweep twice or even three times a day some days. But that just sweeps the lead dust around. Horrifying.
Something about winter is making it very clear to me that we have actually MOVED to Colorado and are not just here on an extended visit. I feel a little shocked. It also has to do with our first experience here that made me realize that we are essentially all alone. We had norovirus. (This was not actually diagnosed by a doctor but it was some sort of terrible stomach virus so I am calling it norovirus.) Amelia had mild symptoms last Saturday, the night before we were leaving for Santa Fe for a week (Dean had a conference for work). Saturday night, I also had symptoms, much less mild than Amelia's. All night. It was terrible. So at about 5:30 Sunday morning, I faced a dilemma. Option 1: In the aftermath of a terrible stomach virus, with a baby who also might still have a stomach virus, get on a plane. Option 2: Stay home, alone, with a stomach virus, and take care of a baby who might still have a stomach virus. Alone.
I have some very nice friends here, but they have babies too. And it takes a special friend to come over and take care of your baby and be exposed to your stomach virus so they can take said virus home to their babies. Pretty much the only person you can ask to do that is your mom. And all moms in my life are about 1500 miles away.
So I decided that if I could keep down some crackers and ginger ale, and if Amelia was okay, I would go. I did and she was, so we went.
We had a nice time in Santa Fe after about Tuesday. (Dean spent Monday battling the norovirus. To any Federal Public Defenders who find themselves feeling a bit under the weather this week, we offer our deepest apologies.) However, Amelia was oddly whiny for most of the week. I don't know if she missed her crib and her Gee and her high chair and her nightly YoBaby Yogurt Drink or if she was perplexed that we had apparently moved to a hotel room or what. But she was whiny. It got old. Also, she slept great in the hotel till the last night, when she woke up 3 times. And she has been making up 2-3 times a night since we got home Sunday.
We are still nursing. I am perplexed. Sometimes I want to quit and sometimes I don't want it to end. Before we left Amelia had pretty much weaned herself to 3 nursing sessions a day but traveling always makes her revert to the breastfeeding habits of a newborn and now it's like every time she sees me she dives for the boobs.
Who knows. Maybe after Christmas we will go cold turkey. We leave for NC again in about 3 and half weeks and I don't see the point in making any huge changes before then. I think after that we are going to swear off all travel till the spring.
This is not the cheerful Amelia Update I had intended to write. But now Amelia is awake. Until we meet again, my friends, drink a cup of hot chocolate for me.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Lead and Coal
At her one year check up, Amelia was tested for lead, and her results were on the high side. For the past couple of weeks, we have been searching for the source of her exposure. She has spent her life in two very old houses. While we can't test the DC house, we have had the Denver house tested thoroughly and are waiting for results.
The man who tested our house was very kind and informative. He reassured me a little about Amelia's lead level (a nine), saying that while lead is very bad for babies and children, a nine is on the high side of normal, to the extent that there is a normal.
He spent 5 hours at our house, testing and explaining. I know a lot about lead now. But one of the things he said stuck with me. He was going off on a tangent about cadmium, saying that now that lead is being more regulated, some companies are switching to cadmium (for example, see this recall of a toy from McDonald's here).
Then he said, "But it's not just lead, and it's not just cadmium. There are thousands of terrible things in our environment, and we put most of them there ourselves, or allow them to be there."
About a week later, I read a post on Beyond Friendship Gate, my friend Caroline's blog. She has been learning and speaking out against coal ash for awhile now.
Coal ash is waste from coal-fueled power plants. Its disposal is currently unregulated.
While we are continue our search for the lead in Amelia's environment, please take a minute to read Caroline's post about coal ash.
The EPA is taking comments from the public about coal ash until November 19. If you decide that you would like to speak out against coal ash, you can comment in less than a minute by using a pre-written letter here. If you like, you can do what I did and add personal comments at the beginning of the letter, too.
I know lots of people in our families have been concerned about Amelia's lead exposure. Dean and I have certainly been worried. But the truth is that there are thousands of other things she comes into contact with that are similarly harmful. Lead is just one that we have become more careful about fairly recently. Please take a moment to learn a little about coal ash, and to speak out sometime against it during the next four days.
The man who tested our house was very kind and informative. He reassured me a little about Amelia's lead level (a nine), saying that while lead is very bad for babies and children, a nine is on the high side of normal, to the extent that there is a normal.
He spent 5 hours at our house, testing and explaining. I know a lot about lead now. But one of the things he said stuck with me. He was going off on a tangent about cadmium, saying that now that lead is being more regulated, some companies are switching to cadmium (for example, see this recall of a toy from McDonald's here).
Then he said, "But it's not just lead, and it's not just cadmium. There are thousands of terrible things in our environment, and we put most of them there ourselves, or allow them to be there."
About a week later, I read a post on Beyond Friendship Gate, my friend Caroline's blog. She has been learning and speaking out against coal ash for awhile now.
Coal ash is waste from coal-fueled power plants. Its disposal is currently unregulated.
While we are continue our search for the lead in Amelia's environment, please take a minute to read Caroline's post about coal ash.
The EPA is taking comments from the public about coal ash until November 19. If you decide that you would like to speak out against coal ash, you can comment in less than a minute by using a pre-written letter here. If you like, you can do what I did and add personal comments at the beginning of the letter, too.
I know lots of people in our families have been concerned about Amelia's lead exposure. Dean and I have certainly been worried. But the truth is that there are thousands of other things she comes into contact with that are similarly harmful. Lead is just one that we have become more careful about fairly recently. Please take a moment to learn a little about coal ash, and to speak out sometime against it during the next four days.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
November News
Amelia is walking!
She took some of her very first steps at her Nanny's house in late October. From there it was a gradual progression. She would "cruise" between chairs and such. But one morning Dean and I sat about 3 or 4 feet apart and played "walking", having her walk back and forth between the two of us. She did it several times, and from there just started walking more and more on her own. If she wants to get somewhere really quickly, she will drop to her knees and crawl, but otherwise she is venturing out on two legs pretty often.
These are from last week, one of her walking to me,
and then back to Dean.
Amelia is changing by the day. She is more and more aware and interactive. She has started initiating games like peekaboo: she'll put a cloth over her head and then uncover herself, grinning, or hide behind the couch and peek back out at us. She points at EVERYTHING, wanting us to name objects--and wanting to hold them, which can be problematic, because it turns out there are a lot of objects around our house that a baby should not hold. She has started really playing with a few toys, too. In addition to rolling a ball, which she has done for awhile, she will move her toy car and dump truck on the floor making a rmmm, rmmm noise, and just the other day I showed her how to hug and rock her baby doll. She gently hugged the doll--threw her headfirst onto the floor.
Sleep-wise, night sleep is holding steady at one wake-up a night, more or less. We are struggling with naps. This one nap or two thing is really difficult. Usually, no matter what I try or when I put her down, Amelia ends up sleeping for about an hour. If that hour is in the morning, she wakes up happy; if it's in the afternoon, she wakes up screaming. I think an hour is not really enough for her, because of the difficult wake up in the afternoon, and the fact that if she naps in the morning she is a complete mess by about 5 pm. But I really don't know what to do about it. So we are trying to go with the flow.
Speaking of which--I thought I was going to have a long, long time to catch up here, but SOMEONE is babbling in her crib. ("Ball, ball!") So more ASAP.
She took some of her very first steps at her Nanny's house in late October. From there it was a gradual progression. She would "cruise" between chairs and such. But one morning Dean and I sat about 3 or 4 feet apart and played "walking", having her walk back and forth between the two of us. She did it several times, and from there just started walking more and more on her own. If she wants to get somewhere really quickly, she will drop to her knees and crawl, but otherwise she is venturing out on two legs pretty often.
These are from last week, one of her walking to me,
and then back to Dean.
Amelia is changing by the day. She is more and more aware and interactive. She has started initiating games like peekaboo: she'll put a cloth over her head and then uncover herself, grinning, or hide behind the couch and peek back out at us. She points at EVERYTHING, wanting us to name objects--and wanting to hold them, which can be problematic, because it turns out there are a lot of objects around our house that a baby should not hold. She has started really playing with a few toys, too. In addition to rolling a ball, which she has done for awhile, she will move her toy car and dump truck on the floor making a rmmm, rmmm noise, and just the other day I showed her how to hug and rock her baby doll. She gently hugged the doll--threw her headfirst onto the floor.
Sleep-wise, night sleep is holding steady at one wake-up a night, more or less. We are struggling with naps. This one nap or two thing is really difficult. Usually, no matter what I try or when I put her down, Amelia ends up sleeping for about an hour. If that hour is in the morning, she wakes up happy; if it's in the afternoon, she wakes up screaming. I think an hour is not really enough for her, because of the difficult wake up in the afternoon, and the fact that if she naps in the morning she is a complete mess by about 5 pm. But I really don't know what to do about it. So we are trying to go with the flow.
Speaking of which--I thought I was going to have a long, long time to catch up here, but SOMEONE is babbling in her crib. ("Ball, ball!") So more ASAP.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
I Voted
Yes, I voted--and for the people I meant to vote for--but barely.
Let me start with a little story. Once upon a time, when I was a teacher, I had no patience for students who didn't read and follow directions. "Take your time," I would harp. "Read the directions. Read carefully!" If someone asked a question which the directions obviously answered, I scolded them and sent them back to the italicized font at the top of the page.
I myself have always had a very good track record for reading and following directions, going all the way back to the fifth grade, when my class was given a worksheet that instructed us to "Be sure to read ALL the directions first before doing anything else." I read through all the directions: 1. Remember to read all the directions; 2. Draw a circle; 3. Draw a line through the middle of the circle; 4. Walk to the back of the room and sharpen your pencil; 5. etc; 6. etc; 7. etc. As my classmates drew circles and sharpened pencils, I read through all the directions, finally reaching 30: Now that you have read all the directions, don't do anything on this page. Take your blank page to your teacher for a surprise.
I was the first one to the teacher. I got a candy bar.
So today we woke up early to vote before Dean went to work. We strolled Amelia in her pajamas to the polling place. The lines were very short. I got my ballot, and the man who handed it to me told me to draw a line to connect the broken arrows for the candidates of my choice. I took my ballot to my little voting cubby, where I did read one set of directions, which was posted on the cubby wall: Read your ballot and use the provided pen or pencil to vote. If you make a mistake, you can receive up to two replacement ballots.
Huh, I thought to myself, stupid Americans. Who would need two replacement ballots?
And I began to select my choices, carefully filling in the spaces between the arrows. Filling them in completely. With a thick black line.
When I got to the top of the second column, my eyes fell on the directions at the top of the ballot. Fill in the space between the arrows with only one single line. Making extra marks can void your ballot.
As you may or may not know, the race for Senate in Colorado is very tight. I very much do not want one particular candidate to win, because I strongly disagree with that candidate's ideas about abortion. So I did not want my ballot to be void. I thought I better go check if it was going to be.
The poll workers were concerned. Yes, they said, I needed to mark only one single line. After a flurry of flipping through the pages of a polling handbook, my first ballot was marked VOID and I was handed a new ballot.
I was flustered. I was embarrassed. I was in a hurry because there was a lot to vote on. I had only had half a cup of coffee. For whatever reason, I went back to the cubby and carefully drew a straight, single line--in between the arrows for the Senatorial candidate I did not, NOT, NOT mean to vote for.
I stood there for a few minutes, feeling like a complete and total idiot. I couldn't go back and tell the poll workers, who I had left about 5 seconds ago, that I had messed up another ballot, but I couldn't stand there and vote for the wrong person.
I slunk back to the poll workers. They kindly but gravely informed me that they were legally required to state that this was the last ballot I could receive; even if I messed up again, I could not have any more ballots.
"I understand," I replied.
So I went back to the voting area. I went to a different cubby this time. I very, very carefully chose the Senator I wanted, and drew a single, straight line to connect his arrow. I figured no matter what else, I should really try to get the Senator right. But I made it through the whole rest of the ballot, even the proposed Constitutional amendments and Ordinance 300, the question of whether Denver should create an "extraterrestrial affairs commission to help ensure the health, safety, and cultural awareness of Denver residents and visitors in relation to potential encounters or interactions with extraterrestrial intelligent beings or their vehicles." (I voted yes on that last one. Why not?)
As I took my ballot to the collection box, the woman handing out the "I Voted" stickers congratulated me. "Good job," she said. "It is difficult to follow all those directions."
I smiled weakly, said thank you, and left as quickly as I could.
In conclusion, this is what people mean by Mommy Brain. For me it's a combination of chronic exhaustion and the feeling that I am always in a hurry. I guess before I was a mom I had lots and lots of time to follow my thoughts to wherever they went. Now, not so much. And, pre-Amelia, it was much easier to finish a task. Now unloading the dishwasher can take all day. So I think I try to do everything as quickly as possible. Including, it seems, voting.
Let me start with a little story. Once upon a time, when I was a teacher, I had no patience for students who didn't read and follow directions. "Take your time," I would harp. "Read the directions. Read carefully!" If someone asked a question which the directions obviously answered, I scolded them and sent them back to the italicized font at the top of the page.
I myself have always had a very good track record for reading and following directions, going all the way back to the fifth grade, when my class was given a worksheet that instructed us to "Be sure to read ALL the directions first before doing anything else." I read through all the directions: 1. Remember to read all the directions; 2. Draw a circle; 3. Draw a line through the middle of the circle; 4. Walk to the back of the room and sharpen your pencil; 5. etc; 6. etc; 7. etc. As my classmates drew circles and sharpened pencils, I read through all the directions, finally reaching 30: Now that you have read all the directions, don't do anything on this page. Take your blank page to your teacher for a surprise.
I was the first one to the teacher. I got a candy bar.
So today we woke up early to vote before Dean went to work. We strolled Amelia in her pajamas to the polling place. The lines were very short. I got my ballot, and the man who handed it to me told me to draw a line to connect the broken arrows for the candidates of my choice. I took my ballot to my little voting cubby, where I did read one set of directions, which was posted on the cubby wall: Read your ballot and use the provided pen or pencil to vote. If you make a mistake, you can receive up to two replacement ballots.
Huh, I thought to myself, stupid Americans. Who would need two replacement ballots?
And I began to select my choices, carefully filling in the spaces between the arrows. Filling them in completely. With a thick black line.
When I got to the top of the second column, my eyes fell on the directions at the top of the ballot. Fill in the space between the arrows with only one single line. Making extra marks can void your ballot.
As you may or may not know, the race for Senate in Colorado is very tight. I very much do not want one particular candidate to win, because I strongly disagree with that candidate's ideas about abortion. So I did not want my ballot to be void. I thought I better go check if it was going to be.
The poll workers were concerned. Yes, they said, I needed to mark only one single line. After a flurry of flipping through the pages of a polling handbook, my first ballot was marked VOID and I was handed a new ballot.
I was flustered. I was embarrassed. I was in a hurry because there was a lot to vote on. I had only had half a cup of coffee. For whatever reason, I went back to the cubby and carefully drew a straight, single line--in between the arrows for the Senatorial candidate I did not, NOT, NOT mean to vote for.
I stood there for a few minutes, feeling like a complete and total idiot. I couldn't go back and tell the poll workers, who I had left about 5 seconds ago, that I had messed up another ballot, but I couldn't stand there and vote for the wrong person.
I slunk back to the poll workers. They kindly but gravely informed me that they were legally required to state that this was the last ballot I could receive; even if I messed up again, I could not have any more ballots.
"I understand," I replied.
So I went back to the voting area. I went to a different cubby this time. I very, very carefully chose the Senator I wanted, and drew a single, straight line to connect his arrow. I figured no matter what else, I should really try to get the Senator right. But I made it through the whole rest of the ballot, even the proposed Constitutional amendments and Ordinance 300, the question of whether Denver should create an "extraterrestrial affairs commission to help ensure the health, safety, and cultural awareness of Denver residents and visitors in relation to potential encounters or interactions with extraterrestrial intelligent beings or their vehicles." (I voted yes on that last one. Why not?)
As I took my ballot to the collection box, the woman handing out the "I Voted" stickers congratulated me. "Good job," she said. "It is difficult to follow all those directions."
I smiled weakly, said thank you, and left as quickly as I could.
In conclusion, this is what people mean by Mommy Brain. For me it's a combination of chronic exhaustion and the feeling that I am always in a hurry. I guess before I was a mom I had lots and lots of time to follow my thoughts to wherever they went. Now, not so much. And, pre-Amelia, it was much easier to finish a task. Now unloading the dishwasher can take all day. So I think I try to do everything as quickly as possible. Including, it seems, voting.
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