Ford, Almost Three

May 2013

Growth and change in our little ones mostly sneaks up on us bit by bit. But sometimes they have huge developmental leaps seemingly overnight. About this time last year, Ford went from only saying a half-dozen words to chatting up a storm in the space of a week or two. It was like a dam of fussiness breaking--once he made up his mind to talk, he was so relieved. We were too!

Easter 2014

The same thing happened again last weekend. After very sporadic pottying and lukewarm interest, Ford woke up on Saturday morning and announced that he wanted to wear big boy underpants and use the potty. There has been no looking back and he's hardly had an accident. In hindsight, a few weeks of squirrely, frustrating behavior preceded his leap into "big boy-hood." Was he acting out because of some subconscious anxiety about it? I'm no developmental psychologist, (just his mommy) but that's my theory.

He also utterly adores his baby sister. He brings her toys and blankets and wants nothing more than to lean in close and kiss her cheeks. He tells us when she's fussing and says "It's ok, Eleanor," and "Mama, I love her so much." I hope it lasts!

We have been talking about clothes that match (stripes! Blue pants!), words that rhyme, what day of the week it is and favorite colors. It's so fun to see him constructing his understanding of relationships, space and time. Despairing over how to get him to wear sandals without socks, I offered to paint his toenails his favorite color. He was beyond excited. So sweet that he is not yet locked into set notions of gender.

Summer is upon us, we're slowly coming out of the sleep deprivation fog and our little guy is very excited for all the world to know that his is a big boy. It's an exciting time!

Spring Beauties

One of the realities of new motherhood is how quickly the "pregnant glow" fades to dark under eye circles, dull skin and thinning hair. Going through that during a long, cold, dry winter made my skin look even more tired. There's no substitute for getting enough sleep, especially uninterrupted (5 hours straight would feel amazing), but since that's not how new babies roll, here are two new items I've been using to fake looking well-rested:

When J. Crew sent out an email touting RMS Beauty in order to "glow like a J. Crew model," you can bet I was intrigued. The Living Luminizer and Lip Shine in Sacred are now my new go-tos, even if I don't have time for anything else except mascara. They're easy to apply and feel good on. Order from the RMS Beauty website and you'll get free shipping.

Since I also want to feel good (and fit into my pants), I've been switching between these two green smoothies in the morning. Being well-nourished lends a certain glow too!

BLUEBERRY, ALMOND & GINGER SMOOTHIE (From Camille Styles:)

• 1/3 cup frozen blueberries, preferably organic

• handful of spinach or kale

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

• 2 tablespoons coconut or goats milk yogurt

• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

• 2 teaspoons raw honey

• 2-3 ice cubes

• fresh mint, for garnish

(I skip the yogurt and add a whole banana. Jarred minced ginger makes it way easier)

GREEN PEANUT BUTTER SMOOTHIE (Bon Appetit)

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 banana
• 1 cup torn kale
• 2  tablespoons peanut butter
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

My sweet night owl and her adoring big brother:

Throwback Thursday: One Year Ago

One year ago this week, our lives in Missoula were completely boxed up and we were eating off paper plates just days before Ford and I boarded a plane for Virginia and the MM began the grueling drive with the moving van.

The MM's parents drove over from Lander, WY for a last visit and to help us pack.  We celebrated the MM's birthday with the traditional lasagna supper, but last year it was a Stouffers.

Circa 2011. Note how young and well-rested he looks before babies arrived on the scene.

I'm making up for that this year, though! There's an almost 100% homemade lasagna bolognese (I did not make the pasta myself!) in the freezer waiting for a Monday night celebration, again with his parents, who are arriving this weekend.  What fun!

A year ago, Eleanor was just a glimmer in our eyes and Ford was still a chubby little guy:

We briefly settled into our rental:

said goodbye to Chopper:

and only briefly let Ford play with an extension cord before we unpacked his actual, child-appropriate play things:

It has been a wonderful first year in Staunton making new friends and seeing more of old ones, settling in to our house and exploring our new home in the Shenandoah Valley.  Something tells me that the coming year will go even faster than the previous one. Eleanor is already two months old and Ford just had an admissions "interview" at a proper Montessori school for the fall.

Nothing Tastes As Good...

Remember when the collective media jumped all over Kate Moss for saying "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels"? I think she eventually explained that she was paraphrasing someone else, but that's probably easier advice to follow when you enjoy as many...uppers as she has.

I could at least adopt "nothing tastes as good as just fitting into my own pants feels," but I only get so far before someone challenges me to bake these cookies with unsweetened coconut and see how they turn out:

Incidentally,they are delicious with unsweetened coconut. And egg free. Except that's not a thing since eggs are good for you. It just means you can eat the dough with a spoon. You can find the recipe at Averie Cooks.

On the balance of fitting into my own pants, I just bought a workout video from the Hilliard Studio Method in hopes of being magically transformed:

(they even say it's transformative, via The SoGood)

This may be a Mindy Lahiri delusion of grandeur, but it can't hurt. Actually, it can. It will probably make every muscle in my body hurt, but pants people! Keep your eye on the pants.

Ford and Eleanor getting in on the exercise mat action yesterday:

Amazing New Baby Gear

Figuring out what you need for the first bebe can be a daunting task. It's also depressing for your bank account, even with generous presents from family and friends. When I was pregnant with Ford, I poured over the Baby Bargains book for hours trying to figure our what we needed vs. was a total baby gear industry hoax, and where to find the best bargains. It was a huge relief not to have the same task ahead of me with bebe deux. Although that mental energy was just consumed by Ford instead. Anyway!

The parent authors of Baby Bargains put out a new edition every single year because new items are introduced so quickly. So while Eleanor's gear is much the same as her brother's, in the short 2 and 1/2 years between them, here are four items we've added to our collection that seem like pure genius to this second-time mama.

1. Ergo Baby Swaddler

By far the easiest swaddling blanket we've used, and the leg pouch is totally brilliant. Our babies like being swaddled, but really don't like the process. So the fewer unwrapping and rewrapping sessions, the better.

2. FridaBaby Windi

Yes, this does exactly what you are afraid it does. Our girl suffers from gas of the lower GI-type, so simethicone drops don't help at all. This crazy device literally took a grimacing, screaming child to cooing in seconds.  (I don't think I ever dreamed that I'd be blogging about baby rectal sphincter release when I started this seven years ago)

3. Gerber Soothe Drops

This is a baby probiotic. Thankfully, we're not coping with colic, but it can't hurt. She's been on it nearly a week and does seem to be digesting better than she was.  That or it's a $35 dollar mommy placebo.

4. Puj Tub

Made of soft, foldable foam that won't mildew, it fits in any sink and hangs flat to dry. The Puj isn't new to the market, but new to us and I love it so far. Eleanor has not come around to loving baths yet!

Another week for me and a few more ounces for Eleanor and we'll be able to test-drive the Infant Insert for our all-time favorite item of baby gear, the Ergo Carrier. I wish we'd had one of these when Ford was tiny:

Fordo at that squishy, adorable 9-10 month old phase. I miss it/look forward to it again!

The scariest/most exciting two hours of my life

Looking back on my tongue-in-cheek pregnancy update from January 29th, I smile, but also shake my head at my blithe approach to only half the story. The other half was that from 32 weeks on, I was being monitored fairly closely for a partial placental abruption--when part of the placenta detaches from the uterine wall. I was not put on bed rest, but I was being pretty careful not to overdo it and we were scheduled to deliver our girl by c-section on February 13th at 37 weeks, just to play it safe. This was confirmed for certain on Friday, January 31st.

So at 8:00 PM on Saturday, February 1st when we said goodnight to Ford, shut his door and then shortly realized that we needed to go to the hospital, the MM and I were pretty shaken, to say the least. We couldn't reach our back-up babysitters to stay with Ford, but miraculously caught a family friend at home. "I'll be there in five minutes" were the sweetest six words in the English language at that moment. We met her on the front steps, said a quick thank you, and headed out.

The drive to the hospital was the longest fifteen minutes of my life. I felt the baby move a few times, but no number of kicks would have been enough to convince me to stay calm. When we finally arrived, "I'll be there in five minutes" was totally eclipsed by the sound of her steady heartbeat on the fetal monitor and the nurse saying "she sounds great." We still weren't sure what would happen next, and waited for the OB on call to arrive. He walked in and said, "So we're going to have this baby tonight, then, aren't we?" In our state of relief, we'd barely noticed the nurses starting to scurry around, bring the MM a pair of scrubs and page the anesthesiologist. It was go-time.

We had a very, very abbreviated discussion about the surgery, but did get the nod from the medical team that we could have her on my chest ASAP if she was stable. Still breech, Eleanor Thomas Cundy entered the world butt-first (girlfriend is going to have a sense of humor, right?) at 10:10 PM and promptly started crying. That sound topped all the others! She weighed five pounds and seven ounces and was 18 inches long. A little thing, but for arriving at 35 and a 1/2 weeks, we were thrilled.  Because she was stable, they brought her to me very quickly and I got to spend about fifteen minutes with her on my chest and nursed her. This clearly blew some of the nurses away, but I was glad they supported it.

In a strange way, sweet Eleanor's birth was more calm and relaxed for me than Ford's. I had already made peace with not having that hoped-for VBAC, so the c-section was expected. I wasn't strung out on exhaustion, pitocin and epidural anethesia, and I hadn't had the time to get the excited jitters as I might have the night before a scheduled delivery. It happened so fast and was over practically before we would have turned out the lights for the night at home. Except that we were now asleep in a cramped hospital room and I had a catheter. But you know, details.

By gaining weight and avoiding jaundice, Eleanor was discharged from the hospital with me on Tuesday and came home.  This felt like a huge victory when there could have been so many possible complications. The ensuing two and a half weeks have been predictably foggy and exhausting as we adjust to being a family of four, remember what it feels like to only sleep for two and three hours at a time (pre-terms have to nurse all the time), and I recover from the c-section. Toss in three utterly miserable days of stomach flu for the MM, Ford and I each (that's one way to drop the baby weight, but I would not recommend it), and you can understand why it's taken awhile to announce our darling girl's arrival.

Welcome to our family, Eleanor! We wish you could have cooked a few weeks longer, but want to thank God and you for being such a strong, beautiful little thing thus far. We hope to do right by you until you're bigger and stronger.  Even if that means your mama has turned into a slightly crazy, house-bound germaphobe on your behalf.  We love you so much!