It's all about the accessories

Happy Father's Day!

The other day, after I picked Marley up from school, Jeff offered to take him outside to run around while I made dinner.  One of the things that makes Jeff such a great dad is his seemingly endless energy for play.  I used to joke that one of the reasons we decided to have kids was so Jeff could have someone to play with.  On this particular day, when they still hadn't returned an hour later, I gave Jeff a call.

Me: Are you guys coming home for dinner, or what?
Jeff: Yes.  What time is it?
Me: Almost 7 o'clock. 
Jeff: Oh crap!  We lost track of time!
Me: Where are you guys?
Jeff: Um...a park.
Me: Which park?
Jeff: Alki Elementary.
Me: WHAT?!?  You walked all the way down there?

Lack of planning is another hallmark of Jeff's parenting.  I would NEVER just start walking to the beach without running down my very extensive checklist.  When's the last time Marley used the bathroom?  Do I have a change of clothes for him?  Are we bringing the stroller or the carrier?  What about extra shoes?  We should probably bring a water bottle.

I could go on, but you get the point.  Jeff, on the other hand, skipped the whole checklist thing and took off with Marley (clad in his winter coat, shark hat, sunglasses, and brand new Spiderman shoes).  WHY on earth would he do this???  Because Marley wanted to go to the beach.  Herein lies the flaw of my over-planning ways.  With me, it can be hours before we actually get out the door...or never.  If Marley had asked me to go to the beach at six o'clock on a Thursday night, I would have said, "No."

If it had been up to me that night, Marley would have missed out on jumping over mud puddles, feeling the leaves of a fern, getting stung by nettles, listening to the evening sounds of the park, and hanging from the monkey bars. 

No matter how much I cringe at the thought of myself tromping through muddy Schmitz Park, bound for the beach.  On a weeknight.  With no supplies.  I'm secretly pleased by the thought of Jeff doing it.  My heart melts every time I hear Marley say, "I want to (shave my face/wear my hat/pee standing up/ride my bike) just like my Daddy."  This is a kid who adores his dad.  Who wouldn't?  He only has, like, the funnest dad in the world!

Lest you think Jeff's mad parenting skills stop at kids too young to enjoy skipping rocks and digging in the dirt, you should know that he embraces all things baby, as well.  When I replaced his Snugli infant carrier with a Moby wrap, his only remark was, "Well, I guess I'd better figure out how to use this thing."  He's not afraid to change a poopy diaper either.  A cloth one.  That requires folding.  I love that man.

Other fathers of note include: My Dad, who doubles as the funny kazoo-playing Grandpa; and Jeff's Dad, who we got to see this weekend, and who Marley has recently termed, "Grandpa Boston."  Happy Father's Day!

One Month

Marley at one month: 5lbs 15oz

Amelia at one month: 9lbs 8oz

Back on the wagon

Thankfully, it seems that Marley's potty training relapse is over.  I'm certain that I'm jinxing it though, now that I've put that into print.  Not that things are perfect.  He still has occasional accidents, but now they are accidental accidents, rather than on-purpose accidents.  And they aren't happening five times a day:)

Yawn...

I just slept for nearly 5 hours. Straight.  During the night.  Thank you, Amelia!  What preceded this momentous event?  Well, first there was a trip to the zoo with Nai Nai.  Then there was a whole-family afternoon nap (even Jeff came home from work early enough to join us), followed by dinner at Spiro's.  I'd say that those things wiped her out, except for the fact that she pretty much slept through all of them.  Overall, it was a really nice day that I'd happily recreate in order to get another 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

I'm really hoping, though, that the sleep-inducing event wasn't what occurred directly before: Spit-up Geyser 2010.  We're talking, like, a gallon of up-chuck.  I had to change my shirt, pants, bra, underwear, AND socks, along with all of Amelia's clothes and the Boppy cover.  Gross.  But man, that 5 hours was so worth it.

Random Marley Video

I apologize for the lack of pictures/videos lately.  I haven't been taking many due to the fact that I have no extra hands.  But, I know how you Marley fans love your videos.  So, I dug this pre-Amelia one up especially for you.  Enjoy!

What was that one thing again?

The day before Amelia was born I had a long list of very important things that had to be done before I went on leave from work.  For the life of me, I can't remember what any of them were.  I was able to briefly recall a few things when I went in to school the Friday after she was born.  Luckily, I have a great sub and amazing coworkers who have probably figured things out by now.  I hope.

There are two things, though, that I really do need to do.  And soon.  The first is report card grades.  I don't have to do them all, but for certain subjects it definitely makes more sense if I do it.  I was planning on entering grades while my students were taking the state standardized test, but Amelia had other plans.  I've made a couple of half-hearted attempts at beginning this task, but the online grade book has been so slow that I've given up.  But, today's my day!  I'm totally gonna do it today.  Right after my nap.

Oh yeah, the other thing I have to do is clean out my classroom.  Anyone want to borrow seven copies of Frindle?  I was hoping to leave a whole bunch of junk behind and tell the new teacher that it "comes with the classroom".  But it turns out one of my current coworkers is probably moving in there and I don't think she'll fall for that.  Looks like I won't be avoiding this task either.

Work in Progress

As Dr. O'Hara warned, the frenectomy has not been a magic bullet.  But, things are getting better - little by little.  Amelia has to re-learn how to use her tongue, which is still probably a little bit sore.  I would say today she latched sheildlessly, if that's a word, one in eight times as opposed to our previous rate of one in ten.  Baby steps (appropriate enough since she is a baby, after all).

I forgot to mention that she weighed in yesterday at 8 lbs 4 oz, for those of you who like to know that kind of thing.  Oh, and today was another SAHM day.  I think we did pretty well.  Since it was raining, I attempted to bring Marley to the Toddler Gym at Southpark Community Center, but it was canceled this week.  Luckily it got nice so we just played outside instead.  Oh and he also watched an episode of Dora three times.  The same episode.

There's a word for that

Look in the mirror.  Now open your mouth wide and touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth.  See that little piece of skin attached to the bottom of your tongue?  That's your frenulum.   Amelia's was really tight* - part of what was causing us difficulty with breastfeeding.  Enter the frenectomy.

I think it was more traumatic for me than it was for her.  I base this on the fact that she cried for a shorter amount of time than I did.  Dr. O'Hara and her assistant were immensely patient and helpful, spending an  hour and a half with Amelia and I, working on latch, positioning, and performing the frenectomy.  I left feeling confident that we can do this on our own. 

Check back in with me at 3:00 am.

*Apparently tongue tie is genetic because Jeff's frenulum was tight as a child also, and he had a frenectomy at age 5.

3 down, 933 to go

With three weeks under our belts things do seem to be smoothing out a bit.  Thanks for the words of encouragement from everyone.  Each day it gets a little easier.

I survived my first day as a stay-at-home-mom on Friday.  We enjoyed a nice relaxing morning at home, then our good friends, Tanya and Jada, came and picked us up and brought us to the Seattle Center for free ice skating.  It may have been a little too much for Marley (especially since we skipped nap time to do it), but at least it got us out of the house.

Amelia has been sleeping more at night, and being awake more during the day.  I've even been able to skip my daily nap a few times!  Breastfeeding is going better, too.  Not great, but better.  Tomorrow we have an appointment with the Doctor who will determine wheter or not a frenectomy would help matters.

Some recent lowlights:
*Walking to our favorite pizza place, only to find that it was closed for the holiday weekend.
*Wrestling with Amelia and the nipple shield, especially in public. 
*Marley's breakdown on Saturday.  He wanted Mommy, and Mommy was busy feeding Amelia.  It was a bad one. 
*Potty training regression.  Big time!

Some recent highlights include:
*Hearing Marley try to soothe Amelia when she's crying.  So sweet!
*Enjoying a glass of wine with Jeff.
*Getting Amelia to latch on multiple feedings in a row.
*Reading with Marley - he's interested in longer, more complex story books lately.
*Rocking a sleeping baby.  Ahh...nothing like it!

Delaying the inevitable

I totally wussed out of my first day as a stay at home mom of two today.  Jeff went back to work yesterday and Marley started his new part-time schedule for June.  At least he was supposed to.

In my defense, Jena said she really needed him there for a special project today.  Okay, maybe she didn't really say that.  Maybe she just took one look at my spit-up-encrusted hair and blood-shot eyes and told me there was an opening today if I wanted it.  Hell yes I wanted it!

It's hard to believe that there was a time, not one year ago, when I would sob uncontrollably at the thought of somone else caring for my son all day.  I have since learned that Jena & Co. are far better caregivers than Jeff or I.  And I now sob uncontrollably at the thought of me having to entertain Mars all day by myself with a baby attached to my boob.*

So, it is with a heavy heart that I count down the days until Marley is officially off the daycare roster.  At which point Jena may find us lurking outside her house and peering through the windows asking, "What are you guys doing today?"

*See May 30th post.

"I can't reach her!"

Exactly.