Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

With sadness I finally bit the bullet and canceled my membership at the climbing gym today, after almost eight years of continuous membership. Climbing with baby in tow just got to be too difficult, since I had to plan around meeting up with someone who is Mini-Me-friendly for bouldering, and two people (one to belay, one to babysit) in order to climb the tall walls. Like so many, I found my monthly fee divided over fewer and fewer trips to the gym until it was clear it would be cheaper to pay by the visit rather than by the month.

Good news, though, another Mama in my neighborhood has pointed me towards a gym that has loads of classes, free parking, and childcare. It will be a new phase in motherhood, leaving Mini-Me with total strangers, but I am determined to get myself back in shape and I think it will be good for Mini-Me to get used to being around other people. I've learned over the past month or so that I need to have some accountability if I am going to manage regular workouts, so paying for classes on a schedule will help, I hope.

Another thing that has changed my perspective about being out and about with Mini-Me is our new Ergo carrier. At first I was just excited that I had the newest gadget like all the other Mamas on the block, but after using it for a few weeks I am totally hooked. I'm so glad I got it before our trip cross-country too, because it was a terrific help at the airport to have both hands free and Mini-Me secure as I juggled luggage, boarding passes, laptop, and shoes at the security line.

Mini-Me turns five months tomorrow, and one of our new things for March is solid food (!). Rice cereal is the first step...

My internet dream

I dream of finding a spot like Yelp! that has listing just for parents with kids. If I were not so busy and exhausted from having a kid I would start one myself. It would specifically review restaurants on their changing facilities, wait times, and waitstaff attitudes about breastfeeding. It would review gyms on their childcare staff and facilities instead of whether people wipe their sweat off the weights machines. I would use it to find out where the best used clothes stores are so I could buy hats from Hanna Andersson for under $5.

I haven't been able to get back to sleep after mid-night nursing. Since I am at my parents' house, I am not too worried about it because I know I can get a nap later in the day while they play with the baby. I am sitting here thinking about how much I am yearning for family support when I am at home. Not only am I sad that my parents and my darling offspring can't be closer, but I do envy my friends who get to go to the gym whenever they want because they have a cadre of people to call over to watch the baby. (My mother-in-law has offered to do this but she knows that we are not entirely comfortable with this because of her mobility issues, and somewhat because her cognition slips here and there. She does provide me with great help every week or so, but it only allows me to get things done around the house since we don't leave Mini-Me alone with her.)

Good things about visiting Grandma and Grandpa

* being able to eat with both hands
* being able to crochet, which requires both hands
* being able to nap without worrying about whether I can hear the baby
* not having to change messy diapers
* having home-cooked meals and not having to clean up!
* getting treated to a massage with childcare
* being back in Dunkin' Donuts territory

So far we have had a great visit, despite arriving at 6 AM after a red-eye flight. Mini-Me was in a terrific mood, all smiles for my parents, and dutifully performed all her favorite tricks (rolling over, giggling with us, putting her pacifier in her mouth all by herself). I'm not entirely sure how she will know it is nighttime because she took a five-hour nap after the flight and slept until 1. Just when the sleep problems were starting to get ironed out...

The Sleep Saga, Part Two

After a miserable week of experimenting, I have come to the conclusion that Mini-Me is too young for any sort of tough-it-out sleep training. She gets upset, then ramps up to full-on hysterical and can't calm down on her own. I read Harvey Karp's stuff about sleep in Happiest Baby on the Block and we're back to swaddling, cuddling, and nursing before naps and bedtime. The changes we are making right now: trying to catch naptime earlier, before we get to the eye-rubbing cranky stage, and putting Mini-Me in her crib while she is still just slightly awake rather than completely conked out.

So far so good. For the last few days she has been able to fall asleep in her crib by herself for naps, and when that doesn't work we use the swing. We are visiting my parents this week, and she went down for three naps today, all in an unfamiliar crib, and did fine. I am crossing my fingers that this is a turning point.

I only have eyes for you

In today's mail there were two envelopes from my parents. One was a birthday card for my husband. The other was a valentine for Mini-Me. I got nuthin'.

Graduation

So, Mini-Me has graduated from the 5 S's and now she resists swaddling and fusses every time she is left alone and suspects that she is supposed to nap. I had aspirations of never ever using the "cry-it-out" method of sleep training, but here we are. I planned to use the morning nap time to mow the lawn, so I wouldn't have to sit here listening to her wail, but I can't bring myself to go out of earshot just yet. I tell myself I am helping her learn a new skill. Plan to read Babywise as soon as possible to learn the how-to's of getting Mini-Me on a more structured feeding and napping schedule. As I was lying in bed at 3 in the morning waiting for baby to fall asleep, I thought of all the things I would be able to do if I knew I would have a given block of time when I was not on duty with her, whether because she was sleeping or because I was letting her work naptime out for herself.

I told my mother what I was doing, expecting a critical answer about letting Mini-Me cry, and she told me that when she and Dad did that with me, she sat outside my door and cried listening to me.

Missing the Old Me Part 4

So, I had to suck it in and I have an unattractive muffin top, but I was able to get into my favorite prepregnancy jeans this evening! According to the scale I weigh the same, but with climbing and occasional workouts at home, maybe I'm finally replacing the fat with a bit of muscle. And I remember the midwives telling me to add four pounds onto my prepregnancy weight to account for increase in breast tissue.

The numbers on the scale don't really matter that much to me, but it is really nice to be able to wear my old clothes. I still have a pile of "wish clothes", mostly pants that don't fit yet, but the jeans are a start!

How we know it's naptime