Bucket Head!

Watch the Bucket Head video if you need some good laughs right now.

(Because of the formatting of the blog it is best to view it via YouTube directly.)

**No babies were harmed during the making of this video.**

Milk Maid No More

For the record, I love nursing Eddie. I love the cuddling, the only-us aspect, that I am nourishing him, that it is a cure all for everything from sickness to thirst to hunger to healing an ouchie. I love it when he looks up at me with those dark eyes and studies the details of my face. My favorite is when he starts smiling at me and milk runs out of his mouth because he can't keep the suction while grinning. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! He's such a sweet, sweet boy.

However, I do not love pumping. I certainly don't hate it--it just takes a lot of time. For the last few months I've been pumping twice a day when I'm at school and it takes about 35 minutes from start to finish: walking down three flights of stairs to two buildings away, then up three flights of stairs, putting all the tubing and bottles together, pumping, washing everything and putting it all away, walking back to my building (down and up three stories), and then walking down the hall to put the milk into the fridge in the copy room.

It is nice to have a break every few hours to go sit in a comfortable chair and read magazines. On hard days I have been known to doze off in there, too.

Now that Eddie's about a year old I'm going to switch him to cow's milk during the day while he's not with me. When he's with me he'll be able to nurse if he wants but I will offer him cow's milk two-three times a day with his snacks.

I thought it'd be nice to show what two types of lactation sites look like on campus. There are actually about 28 sites and these are just examples. Some are nicer....but I doubt none are grosser than the first one I used.

This is the room I started using in January when I returned to school.At that time I was sometimes pumping three times a day because I couldn't produce as much as Eddie needed. Once I moved to another room my supply increased--this room was not only NASTY but also cold. And cold inhibits the release of oxytocin, which is what makes the milk flow. So that room was bad on many levels.

Yep...it was just a bathroom and I had to sit on that nasty bench.Without an outlet near the bar where the pump was locked to, I had to perch on the edge of the seat to reach.And you can imagine just how lovely and relaxing an experience it was to pump my breast milk when I'd get in there after someone had been using the bathroom for a long time... eeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwww.

My view from the bench:The only redeeming qualities were that it was in my building and that there was a sink so I could wash the pump parts right there.

At the beginning of February a nearby room was reopened in a building had been under renovation previously. It was much nicer! Close up of the hospital grade pumps provided free of charge in every room:
There were lockers and locking cabinets in the room (plus a sink!) so I could keep all my pumping stuff in there instead of carrying it around in a bag. Even though it looks ugly, that chair was a major improvement over the shower bench.

My view from the chair...not wonderful, but it beats a toilet!The room was decked out in breastfeeding posters.
And the campus lactation consultant loaned me a bunch of LLLI magazines to read while I pumped. A few weeks ago I found a stash of old New Yorkers my labmate was throwing out so I brought those in there, too.Most rooms have a sign-in sheet so the coordinator can keep track of how many users there are (and if they are students, faculty, or staff). That plastic thing is to hold pictures of our babies to promote the release of oxytocin...but I never got around to printing out any pictures. (But really, I could just think about Eddie cute face and I'd feel the let down reflex!)

Today

I wrote a to do list for today while I was pumping at school yesterday.

In no particular order:

1. Transfer money into savings
2. Laundry
3. Fold diapers
4. Go swimming
5. Eddie's urology appointment
6. Buy rolling suitcase--Edward has our big one and our small one is being repaired by Dave but it won't be done by the time we leave for Reno on Amtrak (!) with my parents on Saturday
7. Go to campus for first official melon tasting session in the pomology department (something I'm doing for fun and because it pays $5 in Target gift cards for each session)
8. Pick zucchini from the garden
9. Feed the chickens
10. Be home at 7pm so I can hand over the last specimen samples for the UCD lactation study--I can't believe we're done already! (I'll explain in another post.)

I took the dogs to an off-leash area of Slide Hill park this afternoon before we went swimming. Potatoes, our boy, was walking weird after we were done...like he was going to fall over. Eddie and I sat down on the grass with Ruby and Taters wandered away to pee on a tree. I was watching him and something about his gait made me nervous. I couldn't pinpoint it, but something was wrong. Then as he was walking back to me he sorta stumbled and it totally freaked me out. I firmly called him and he perked up at the sound of my voice like he usually does...and that reassured me that he wasn't having a seizure or anything.

I made the dogs stay put while I loaded Eddie into the car and then watered the dogs once they were in the van. When we got home I gave the dogs treats and a big bowl of water. Since Taters seemed okay and ate the treat like normal I decided to continue on with my plans to go to the pool. The whole time I was sorta worried about him. But he was sitting on the blanket chest looking out the window when we got back and he seems just fine.

Poor pooches, they get so worn out with any exercise I give them since I hardly give them any! I need to make a commitment to take them to play more...it is just hard to find the time and energy to haul me, Eddie and them to the park. Dave and I used to share that responsibility but now it all falls on me. Phooey.

Anyway, so dealing with Taters made me totally forget about going to campus for melon tasting. Grrrr...I hope I don't have the quit the panel because of that!

I still need to do numbers 1 and 2 from my list (and 10 but it isn't 7 yet).

Here's what we had for dinner last night--black bean/zucchini burgers, zucchini/tomato saute with pesto, and cut-from-the-cob grilled corn. And there are leftovers for tonight!

Ummmm...

I don't even know what to say about this picture...

All I can say is that his clenched tushy makes me laugh and that he's wearing a bib to soak up the drool because he was is teething and well, without it he gets slippery.

Gmail Chat with Uncle Edward

Here's my conversation with Edward this morning (and for those who don't know my weird antics, Ruby is my dog and yes, we refer to our dogs as Eddie's brother and sister...if you are a dog person you will understand this and if you aren't you should watch Marley and Me so you'll understand):

8:42 AM

Edward: how's eddie?

8:43 AM me: DUDE

he says "sister"

it is soooooooooooooooo flipping cute

8:44 AM Edward: like for ruby?

me: i got it on video last night at dinner while he was feeding her some zucchini

yes!

Edward: hahahaha

me: he doesn't say brother yet

even tho he knows the "b" sounds

but i think that's because ruby is always in his face

Edward: that is doubly funny because he was feeding a dog zucchini and I'm sure she was loving it

me: haha

he'll only eat it if it is on HIS fork so he can feed HIMSELF

8:45 AM but if you give him a whole pluot, plum, or apricot he'll eat it himself and spit out the pit

he chews on apples but he can't bit anything off yet

Edward: wow

he is the man

me: he's sooooooooooooooooooooooo flipping cute

i can't stand it sometimes!

Edward: haha

he so totally rocks dude

that's from finding nemo

me: you're gonna die when you see him next

8:46 AM he loves to grab your hand and turn it over so it is palm up

then he'll put stuff in your hand

like a rock or whatever he's holding

he says teeyou

and then takes it back and again says teeyou

teeyou = thank you and your're welcome (apparently)

8:47 AM Edward: haha

he was taking giving and taking stuff when I was there

and I'd say thank you every time

me: yeah

but now he's adamant that you have your hand open

Edward: I can't wait to hear teeyou

me: and if you don't he'll do it for you

AND he's pretty good at aiming his fork at food on his tray

and he'll try to load the fork

8:48 AM sometimes we have to help him get it on the tines

he spent most of the time at home depot on saturday removing/replacing a straw from our costco soda cup into/out of the plastic lid hole

(I put my thumb in it to make the hole bigger)

Neighborhood

Our neighbor's house was burglarized yesterday in plain daylight. The great aunt is ALWAYS home taking care of the small children and the *one* time in like 5 years that she and everyone else left, someone broke in. I think they lost a laptop and maybe some other electronics.

Because the park is so close to our house we do get a lot of people walking/biking by at all hours of the day...and you just never know what people are up to.

Yesterday the cops came back to all our houses to ask if we were interested in forming a neighborhood watch group--we'd have monthly meetings, arrange to contact each other if there is anything odd happening around our houses, and do things like write letters to the city to request that additional lights be installed at the park or on the street. The cop was glad to hear that I was interested in being a part of the group and he told me to definitely call 911 immediately if anything seems weird in the neighborhood.

And then at 9:15 last night when Dave and I were watching a movie a different neighbor called to see if we could check on a gas leak at their house (they are out of town and their house sitter smelled gas but isn't there at the moment).

Since it was going to take at least an hour before PG&E could even come out to the house to check on it, we went over to see if it was something as simple as turning off the valve. We checked it and there appears to be a big hole in the supply line leading to the meter. We could actually hear the whooshing sound of the leak and see it blowing the grass around. I think the last 40 years of weed whacking and soggy soil around the pipe finally took its toll.

Since no one was home at their house to turn the lights on, we were out there with wrenches, a long pipe to slip over the wrench in case we needed extra torque to turn the valve, and a flashlight...talk about weird behavior being reported to the cops! I guess it isn't a good sign that no one called the cops on us...

Say Cheese!

This afternoon while I was at school, I got a text from Dave that seriously made me teary-eyed. One of those oh-my-god-my-precious-baby-angel-darling-boy is growing up TOO FAST things.

He said while he was changing Eddie's diaper after his long morning nap, Eddie was babbling and saying "YEEEAH!" a lot. Dave would respond with his own "yeah? yeah!" Then Eddie looks at him and says "CHEEssss" (chee and then the "s" sound instead of the "z" sound as in cheese). Dave asked him if he wanted some cheese and Eddie responded, "Yeah!" So Dave got him a stick of string cheese and our little guy gobbled it up. Like most kids, Eddie goes through phases where he'll readily eat something and by the next meal he's over it and shoves it away. Lately he's done that with cheese. For the longest time he was pretty into it. Then last week he was suddenly not interested.

So the fact that he said "cheese" and then gobbled up a whole piece makes us think he was actually saying "cheese."
So cute, right?

For the last 2 weeks he's also been saying something resembling "thank you" whenever he puts something in your hand and then takes it back. It sounds like "teeyou." Again, sooooooooooo cute.

I cannot believe my child is already speaking...I still can't believe I ever got pregnant in the first place.

Playing with the Webcam

A few weeks ago I *finally* got my laptop back from Acer (the hard drive had fried and the webcam cable was bad, too). It arrived during lunch and I played with the camera while Eddie ate.

Picture 1, "I want to touch that computer and get my sticky, yogurty hands all over the keyboard! Gimme!"

Picture 2, "Mama, why are you smiling at the screen? You usually only smile like that at me..."

Picture 3, "Oh, you want ME to smile at the screen, too. I get it...here comes a grin!"

He's so dang cute! I love how his expression changes during the sequence.

(I have no explanation for why my dangling hair looks so thin and cancer patient-y. The top half must have been up in a clip or something...or maybe some of it escaped from where it was tucked behind my left ear. Either way, ew.)

Dad Life = Dave Life

Oh. My. God. This video is soooooooooooo funny.

Dave is all of these guys rolled into one: minivan, splash pad, crying while watching stupid movies, BBQing, weeds in the garden, white socks with sandals, checkbook magic, facial hair, cheapy sunglasses....the list goes on and on...

Dad Life from Church on the Move on Vimeo.

Whoa Nelly

What happened to the last 11 months?

I can't believe it.

Model of Inefficiency

Arg. I hate things that are inefficient by design--it just sets people up for failure.

The library here at UCD recently switched their copy machine systems--to photocopy or scan books/articles you MUST use a copy card.

Not a big deal, right?

Q: How much does a copy card cost?
A: Fifty cent deposit for the actual plastic card.

Q:How do you buy the card?
A: With cash. Coins? Haha, NO. Only paper cash.

Q: Where is cash available on campus?
A: The only ATM machines are about a 10 minute walk away from the library. (Or as the librarian suggested, go buy a cup of coffee, get cash back, and then come buy the copy card. Except, remember, you can't bring that paper cup of coffee back into the library to enjoy while you read the articles you just copied!!!!)

A: Now that I have paper cash, where do I buy the copy card?
Q:Only downstairs on the main floor.

Q: Okay, FINE. I got my cash loaded onto my copy card and I made my copies. Where's the stapler so I can wrangle my mess of papers? There used to be one chained to every copier in the library...
A: Only downstairs on the main floor.

Q:...What about a pencil sharpener so I can poke my eyes out with some graphite out of pure frustration (and exhaustion from running around the entire freaking campus just to make a stupid copy).
A: Oh, most of those have been removed, too. It seemed like everyone has started using iPhones, iPads, and mechanical pencils and the janitor didn't like having to empty the shavings canister so we got rid of them.

Isn't this place full of Ph.D.'s??? Who decided this was a good idea? (Probably some administrative assistant down at ReproGraphics whose job security is based on shuffling papers and doing meaningless, inefficient tasks like running around making copies at the library...okay, probably not.)

GAH.

No one carries cash anymore. At least no one in their early-mid twenties. I bet if you ask the students coming into the library if they have paper money in their wallets right then, 90% of them would say no. It is just the way young people live.

So why in God's name doesn't the library at least allow poeple to charge up their copy cards with a credit or debit card?????? I asked the reference librarian today and he said, "I don't know, it is complete bull shit if you ask me." Well said, my friend, well said. Bull shit. It was especially hilarious because this guy is probably early fifties and looks exactly like you'd expect a university librarian to: thick glasses, shirt buttoned tightly up against his neck, very modest.

Water Babies!

Yesterday afternoon we met some friends (Ingrid, Michael, and their sweet baby, Heidi) at Slide Hill Park for a picnic and then swimming at Manor Pool. We all had lots of fun chatting and playing in the water. Heidi had never been swimming before and Eddie was quick to show her how small kids do it: climbing in/out/in/out/in/out/in/out the pool at the shallow end, playing on the sprinklers, sucking on pool toys, climbing on Dada, and being swished around in the deep end while clinging to Mama.

Our picnic included various sliced cheeses, two types of salami, pesto, crackers, bread, and fruit salad. For dessert (which we ate after swimming) was a rhubarb apricot crisp...not as sweet as strawberry rhubarb pie but pretty dang good.

By the time we started walking towards home (about 4pm) it was really hot (96F) and we were ALL ready for a nap. Too bad we only had one stroller so Eddie got to sleep...I seriously considered making Dave pull me home in the wagon we brought to haul the cooler and pool stuff, but I'm pretty sure my weight would have broken the wheels AND someone had to push the stroller anyway.

It was a great Sunday...really, a great weekend over all. We hung out with different friends three days in a row and ate yummy food each time. You can't ask for much more!

Our College Buddy

Yesterday our friend, Pravin, was in the area and FINALLY was able to stop by to meet Eddie. (We hadn't seen each other since our baby shower last year.)

Dave and I both met Prav on move-in day at Saint Mary's in the Aquinas dorm hall. The fellas were suite mates and I lived next door. We were best friends with a guy named Vish, too, and during the first few years of school, the 4 of us were a pack and did almost everything together. At first I actually dated Vish...and years later when Vish and Dave were roommates in an off-campus apartment I started dating Dave...but that's a story for another time. (Don't worry, we're all on good terms!)

Just for kicks I scanned a few "vintage" pictures of all of us so you can see what we were like back in the early 2000s. Laugh if you must...we were cool, dammit! (The boys got a lot more handsome over time...)

Year 2000 (Dave, Amy, Prav, me):
Probably 2003 at the boys' apartment:
April 2005 at a hotel near Disneyland (we went for Dave's birthday):

Gmail Chat Last Night

8:29 PM David: hi love

me: Hi lover

howzit?

8:30 PM David: good

David: how was your and biggest man's day?

me: we had a good day

he woke up at 550am

David: ack

me: so i nursed him in our bed and thankfully he fell back asleep

David: cool

me: but i expected him to wake up again soon since that's what he normally does

8:32 PM BUT instead I woke up at 7:23 because I realized we'd been in bed for a while

and i normally leave the house about 750 for cassie's....

AND to make our morning even MORE fun he overturned the water bowl in the kitchen

8:33 PM and it was EVERYWHERE

David: yeah not much time to get there

me: AND then he got into the pool right after i put him in his clothes

David: what a water boy angel

me: AND THEEEEEEEEEN before i could get out there he sat in the gravel so he was sooooooo dirty

David: ha

me: and i didn't want to get sand in the house so i changed him on the front porch (where his clothes and first diaper are still waiting to be cleaned up)

8:34 PM oy

he's so stinking cute

David: double yeah

YEAH!

me: the whole morning i was just laughing as i ran after him cleaning up messes

sheesh

but we got to cassie's and she said he was tired and took a 3 hour nap

can't imagine why!

David: haha

8:35 PM yeah he did a good job

me: yeah

YeeeAH

8:39 PM David: YEEEEAH

8:40 PM me: :):):)

Eddie's first word was "yeah," said with explicit enthusiasm...we did our best to write it the way he says it. It is so cute when he says it. I'll have to get it on video sometime and post it on the blog.

4th Feast

Last year Dave and I had no one to celebrate 4th of July with...but we had all this delicious food in mind: firecracker shrimp, grilled veggie kebabs, steak, jalapeño poppers wrapped in bacon, and shortcake for dessert. So we cooked it anyway and totally enjoyed ourselves.

A few weeks ago we realized that no one had invited us to any sort of Independence Day parties. We were a little bummed, thinking we were losers. We decided we were going to make the same ridiculous amount of food as we had the last year, since it was so scrumptious. Dave suggested that I email some Davis friends, just to see if they wanted to come. Turns out there were a LOT of folks who had no other plans, either. We ended up with 15 adults and 3 babies over last night for our second annual 4th Feast!

Before the party we prepped the food, went to our friend's house to take care of their kitty while they are out of town, and went swimming at the local pool. Eddie didn't take more than a 15 minute nap in the car after swimming so by the time 8pm rolled around (his normal bedtime) he was falling apart. About 8:45pm we loaded him into the double stroller along with three giant blankets (and the platter of deviled eggs that I'd accidentally left in the fridge up until that point) and walked to the edge of town to see the fireworks. Eddie screamed for about 5 minutes and then promptly passed out. He stayed asleep until about 9:30 during the fireworks. It was super cute to see his mesmerized face during the lights show.

As is always the case with our dinner parties, I was too busy chitchatting and eating to take any pictures. So here's the general idea: we ran out of normal Correll dishes so we had to also use our china plates...we also ran out of forks. In addition to all the food we'd prepared, nearly everyone brought something to share--fruit salad with lime/pepper seasoning, green salad, cupcakes, baked brie, pasta salad, etc. People were scattered all over the house to eat...some outside on the patio, some in the living room, and some in the dining room.

While I didn't get any pictures yesterday, here's a photo of the leftovers Dave and I got to eat for lunch today (and there's sooooooooo much more to chose from in the fridge!):

That cake is a strawberry shortcake cake and was phenomenal--definitely tied for my favorite with plum upsidedown cake. It is deceptively heavy because the cake is soaked with berry juices. One recipe yielded 2 heart-shaped pans that I then cut in half. I also made an extra batch of frosting for it since a little extra frosting never hurt anyone.

I completely forgot that my friend John can't have gluten so he couldn't eat any of it. Since I have tons of strawberries left I am going to make him a gluten free version this week (I made a gluten free huckleberry cake a couple of years ago and the actual cake was pretty short-cakey so I think it'd be hefty enough to stand up to the berry juices.)

I hope everyone had a great holiday with their families and friends like we did!

Gualala Fun

Last weekend Eddie and I headed up to Gualala so we could spend a day on the Gualala river with the Watershed Council.

We first drove Edward to Concord so he could take BART to Dublin since he was going to drive up the coast with his friend Katie that night. Because Eddie ended up waking up near the BART station, we decided to get a snack and let Eddie burn off some energy crawling around outside. The World Cup game was on so we got Eddie some beans and rice in a taqueria so we could watch the game (clearly I'm not a huge soccer fan since I can't even recall who was playing).

Eddie and I arrived in Gualala around 3pm, then went "downtown" to run some errands for my MIL. (If you've ever been to Gualala you'll understand why I put downtown in quotes...) Since all the shops I needed to go to were close together it didn't make sense to drive from one to the other. So I loaded Eddie into the hiking pack so I could walk around--I was going to be picking up 4 pizzas so a stroller would not have worked. I got some REALLY weird looks carting him around in that pack. People smiled and slowed down their cars and pointed. Um...weird. In Davis no one would have batted an eye but in Gualala things are different for a few reasons: 1) there are no sidewalks downtown (yet!) so no one really walks around; 2) there are very few young families there; 3) people don't really multitask up there...life is a bit slower up on the coast.

We dropped one of the pizzas and some other groceries off at the Coast House for Edward and Katie since they'd be arriving too late to buy anything (Gualala completely shuts down at 8pm). By the time we got back to the house Dave was off work...we were so happy to see him! My MIL and I made a quick run through the house to Eddie-proof things (removing fragile items from low shelves, etc.).

Saturday morning I made a copy-cat recipe for those scrumptious cornmeal pancakes IHOP used to serve. They were sooooooooooo good. Edward and Katie met us at the house and then we loaded into our van and headed down to the river. The Gualala River Watershed Council hosted a day on the river, complete with a tour of their restoration efforts, a yummy picnic, music, games, and a raffle drawing.

The restoration tour was pretty interesting, at least to folks like me and Dave.

Eddie was a good boy the whole time and just entertained himself with sticks, leaves, and clumps of dirt.

I think Edward and Katie would have preferred to still be sleeping (it was at 10:30am), but they were happy to play with Eddie amongst the redwood trees.

After the tour we all went to the picnic site, which was located on a rocky beach. The mouth of the river is still open to the sea at this point so the river is pretty shallow. Once it closes the river will fill up and it will be perfect for kayaking! But shallow was good for us, since it was safe for Eddie to play in the water. (Interesting fact: "Gualala" is a Native American word meaning "where the river meets the ocean.")

The food was divine: BBQed oysters, wild Gualala pig, tons of salads, and yummy strawberry rhubarb crisp for dessert. I ate waaaaaaaaaaay too much!

The pig was cooked inside this pig roasting box....it was complete with directions and everything! Dave and have decided that we need to get us a box like that...it would be much easier than digging a giant hole in the ground to roast a whole pig.

After eating Edward and I participated in a GPS treasure hunt to find puzzle pieces--once put together the puzzle indicated that another clue for the treasure could be found under a giant "X" (which we'd all clearly seen the moment we arrived at the picnic...). One of the younger kids got to tromp off to find the treasure (a metal box full of candy--he asked if he could keep the box and not the candy!).

Then the raffle began! We bought 10 $1 tickets and I put them into the sacks for wine, an emergency kit, a Bones Roadhouse gift certificate, native plants, and a sun hat full of various outdoorsy items. For only $10 we made out like bandits: we won two bottles of local wine, the emergency kit, AND the Bones gift certificate! Not too shabby.

My FIL, deciding what to put his raffle tickets towards:

After a FULL day on the river we were all tired--except for Eddie, apparently. He was not interested in sleeping at all. So Dave and I moved our pillows (and an unplugged phone with lots of buttons) onto the floor of his room and took naps while Eddie crawled all over us. We felt pretty refreshed after about 30 minutes. After Eddie was down for the night Dave and I picked 2 gallons of cherries and a gallon of loganberries for me to take home. I also got to take home a pint of fresh pico de gallo made by my MIL's friend Donna (she sells it at the farmers market). It is so good.

The next morning right before Eddie and I left, we met up with Katie and Edward at Trink's Cafe for white mochas and scones. It was so nice outside so we sat on the grass behind the shopping center so we could see the ocean.

Then, since it WAS so nice out and Eddie didn't seem ready for a nap--I try to plan my driving for when he needs a nap anyway--we decided to play at Bower Park for a while.

It was Eddie's first time at the park and his first time on the swings. I'm not surprised he liked it so much--he likes moving fast!

He also played a long time in the tunnel with Dave.

Eddie slept the whole three hour drive back to Davis! We must have really worn him out that morning! It was funny, nice, and surprising to see my mom's friend Gayla at our house when we got back. My mom stayed at our house for the weekend to take care of Emmy, since she's not allowed in Gualala because she REALLY doesn't get along with my in-law's dog, Poppy. I had about 45 minutes to unload the van, put stuff away, tidy the house, and get some drinks chilling in ice before some of my mama friends came over with their babies for a get together. We had a very full house that afternoon because Edward arrived and our housemade, Arek, was also home!