Two “Firsts” for Lauren

First family trip and plane ride. The family at White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas

We had a great time in Texas! The local temperature averaged 95 degrees on our visit, but it felt nice after a long winter at home. The airline (BIG kudos to Northwest) helped us gate-check the car seat and stroller, so no hassles there. We met a lot of nice travelers who just wanted “to come talk to the baby!” As long as we could put down a blanket while we were waiting for the plane to let Lauren roll around, it was enough to put her to sleep for the flights. (She’s now doing back-to-front rolling, so she can get around rather quickly!) In Dallas, we met up with Uncle R and played bocce ball at the lake, went to the aquarium (Lauren seemed more interested in the surrounding flora than the animals!), restaurants (lots of Mexican!), took in a FC Dallas soccer game, and just hung out as a family.

First bites of rice cereal!

Lauren’s nearing the six-month mark, and so it’s time to start solids. I mixed some rice cereal with breast milk and captured it for posterity. Of course, she was messy, but she seemed to recognize the taste of milk, and that made her more receptive to the new experience.

Playtime … and Work

 

Lauren at the park on a cool spring day

Five months and two weeks old. Yet not quite big enough for a swing at the park! Nick and I had a blast taking her on the swings and the slide, although there’s not much of a reaction yet from her!

I made headway on last week’s to-do list: Lauren and I are now signed up for Music Together this summer. I called Medela and they gave me a play-by-play on how to clean my friend’s pump. But it still doesn’t work! Did you know that there are plenty of places to order new parts from, but NO place where you can just ship a pump and have it magically fixed, for a fraction of the cost of a new one? How much time do they think these breastfeeding new moms have?

I’ve asked for some new duties at work, mostly marketing stuff, like I’d love to be in charge of a quarterly company email newsletter now that we’re getting bigger (and maybe I can shadow a graphic designer). This stems from my circulation project of conceptulizing five renewal promotions: I had to draw them out on paper for the designers, and thought, “Wouldn’t be nice if I could see this from start to finish?” My boss, and my boss’ boss, like the idea I pitched about going to a one-day workshop on improving in-house promotions this summer. One day. I can handle that with a baby daughter!

Lauren’s almost ready to handle solid food – she’s definitely looking at us with interest when we eat, and she’s asking for 2-3 more feedings of milk per day. She never ate as much as 5-6 oz at one time, but just likes her standard 4 oz more frequently. I’m thinking about starting her on rice cereal next week and am looking at a book about making my own baby food. A friend suggested making it, freezing in ice cube trays, and rationing into Ziplock bags. I like this portability idea, but I’m not sure if I’ll just end up getting baby food at the store.

We’re going on vacation to Texas this weekend. I’m pretty psyched just to have some family time. So, I might have a baby-airplane story for you next week. Hopefully, Lauren will be her usual sunny self and we won’t be that couple everyone hates sitting next to with the crying baby!

Mama’s To-Do List

No new pictures this week, although we can report that Lauren completely rolls from back-to-front! She was the family entertainment this weekend in between events for our out-of-town wedding. Although the development can be a double-edged sword: she kept me up Monday night night because she’d flip to her stomach in her sleep and wake up crying. Kaye solved this problem Tuesday at daycare by putting her down for naps on her stomach since “she’s too old for SIDS concern now.” Next up: mastering front-to-back! The wedding was beautiful and Lauren did well. Heads up to Aunt E and Aunt K for helping us out over the weekend.

Not much else new. It was a sleep-deprived week for me. We’re looking forward to Memorial Day weekend next week. I’m taking two days off work to make it an extra-long one. I’m thinking about signing up Lauren and me for one of those Mommy and me infant music classes for Wednesday evenings in June and July. Every day around 4:00 at daycare, Lauren “unwinds” with some soft music, and we’ve been listening to more at home. Also, I am STILL renting an electric breastpump from the hospital, so I should really either get the second one I borrowed from a friend fixed, or look into buying a new one. I found one on Craigslist.com today and that reminded me again …

Bathing Beauty

Lauren, back in the days when she had to use a bath with a “hammock” in the kitchen sink. And no, I’ve never taken a naked picture of her there.

Now that Lauren’s a little acrobat with her side-to-side rolls, we’ve moved bathtime to the bathtub. I loved bathing her at the kitchen sink because it was nice not to bend down, but last time she nearly rolled off the kitchen counter when I was trying to put her nightgown on! So on a visit to Babies ‘R Us (the world’s most dangerous place to spend money) I found a foam pad to use with a non-sitting up baby in the tub. We tried it last night, and it’s great for washing her front and body, but when I sit her up to wash her back, I have to be really careful she doesn’t slip off! Lor’s not one of those babies that loves baths; once again, she puts on the “neutral” face. But I try to play soft music and have bath toys to make it enjoyable.

On the soap front: Lauren’s been breaking out periodically for two months. At the two-month check-up, our pediatrician recommended Dreft laundry detergent and Aveeno baby wash. At the four-month check-up two weeks ago, upon hearing aforementioned products did not work, Cetaphil body wash was suggested, as well as some dietary adjustments for the breastmilk. “It [the rash] could be citrus, like if you’re having grapefruit for breakfast, and orange juice for lunch … or it could be tomatoes, like pizza and tacos, or it could be salad, or if you’re having the same things every day…” Not helpful. So I’m trying the Cetaphil, but I’m not buying any more body wash because we’ve got a lifetime supply now! At any rate, the rash doesn’t seem to be bothering Lauren; she’s as amicable as ever.

She’s not quite rolling over all the way, but we have a lot of fun “helping” her do it. She giggles when tickled, and it’s adorable. This weekend, we have our first wedding to go to, and it will be fun to get her dressed up! 

Mommy and Lauren: A Workday

Lauren hangs with Mr. Gorilla

Sunday night, we received a call that Kaye’s mother was sick and she’d be out Monday. What should we do with Lauren? After using two weeks paid vacation for my maternity leave, I had limited personal time left, plus I had just taken time off for Lor’s doctor appointment. Nick was scheduled to leave town Sunday night for work. Because I have a cool boss, and because I had a lot of work to do in one of the subscriber databases (accessible online), I arranged to work from home with Lauren.

A few people suggested when I was pregnant that I should make working from home a top priority. But for me, separation of work and personal life is like the separation between church and state. And during my maternity leave, I had to put in a few hours each week from home, and it was nearly impossible. Just not for me. Plus, it’s not fair to Lauren: if she could stare at Mommy on the computer all day, OR have fun with friends, read books, and sing songs (OK, coo to songs), which one would YOU choose?

So here was our day:

7 a.m.-8 a.m. Get office ready and Lauren ready. Baby swing, check. Bouncy seat, check. Floor playmat plus toys, check. Lauren dressed, diapered, fed. I eat protein bar and have first cup of coffee.

8 a.m. Lauren and I are in office, on time to start our day, when I discover Internet is down. Call in to Nick for troubleshooting. Restart computer. Problems solved. Reward myself with second cup of coffee.

8:40 a.m. Lauren hates bouncy seat and swing. Move her to floormat, where she grabs Mr. Gorilla.

9:50 a.m. I’ve gotten over an hour of work done, including emailing two people I think might be available for back-up care should Kaye be out Tuesday. Lauren has fallen asleep on the mat, waking up 40 minutes later. After 11, fussing begins.

11:15-12 noon. Lauren eats, gets changed, falls asleep. I grab lunch and plug in the baby monitor.

2 p.m. Ear-piercing shriek radiates through the monitor, then Lauren rolls over and goes back to bed.

3:10 p.m. Lauren’s awake, eats, gets changed, comes down to the office with me. The floor mat is no longer amusing. It’s all I can do to get to 4:30, when I sign off for the day. I’m exhausted. She’s ready to go! At least we can have some quality time together now.

I’m back to the office on Tuesday.