Weight Loss

Well, I finally made it back to my pre-pregnancy weight. The stomach flu allowed me to get down past it and then I rebounded back to my "normal" weight.

Sippy Cup

I have always had a love-hate relationship with sippy cups. As a nanny/babysitter throughout college and much of grad school, I have dealt with these cups with many, many children. So when deciding whether or not Eddie would use one I had a lot of experience to draw from.

Initially I decided that he'd not use one at all, ever. So for the past 4-ish months we've had him continue to take his milk from a bottle while at the sitter's or drink water from a regular cup or glass when he's eating solid foods with us. It can be messy but he loves drinking from a cup and when you say or sign "drink?" to him he immediately looks at his cup. The sitter does give him bottles of water when he seems super thirsty.

Dave and I talked a lot about why I don't like sippy cups and why I wouldn't want Eddie to use one. I finally realized that I don't like them because:

• most of the families or daycares I've worked for usually fill them diluted apple juice (don't even get my started on how unhealthy it is for people to carelessly drink pulp-free, sugary beverages all day...)
  
• most of the families or daycares I've worked for let the kids have constant access to them so the kids end up leaving them all over the house (having dishes scattered around the house drives me nuts and condones "grazing" instead of proper meals/snack times/locations like the dining room table)
• they are NOT spill-proof when the child shakes it so you end up with stickiness all over the house

Realizing that my issues with sippy cup use stems primarily from children having constant access to empty calories and undefined "eating" times, Dave and I decided we could just utilize sippy cups differently than most people. I know this sounds obvious, but sometimes we just get stuck in one way of thinking about a problem and we have to force ourselves toward some other solution. As a breastfeeding, cloth diapering, single-mom-during-the-week, I know first hand that although parenting technique often seems to come in a one-size-fits-all package you ARE allowed to readjust to suit your needs/desires/budget/capabilities.

I'm thinking ahead (with excitement) to when Eddie can drink cow's milk...only 2 short months away. Think of all the time I'll save at school when I won't have to pump my milk for him!

He'll either have to drink cow's milk out of a bottle, out of a cup, or out of a sippy cup (or a cup with a straw). We know he can drink from a bottle just fine. Cassie is fine with assisting him to drink out of a cup, but she admits that sometimes she doesn't have enough time during meals with all the other kids to hold the cup for him long enough to satisfy his thirst, hence she sometimes gives him a bottle of water. He doesn't quite know how to drink out of a sippy cup...and I generally don't like them.

But...we've decided that sippy cups were invented for a reason: because they are a good stepping-stone for a child to move away from a baby bottle towards independent use of a cup. So we'll continue using regular cups for milk and water at meals/snack times at home but get him used to drinking out of a sippy cup when he needs a drink of water at other times. Then he can drink his milk at Cassie's however is best for her and him.

My mom gave us some old sippy cups she bought from Tupperware years ago that are not spill proof at all. Eddie seems to understand that the spout is where the water comes from since it drips right into his mouth. Kaitlin gave me some spill proof Playtex cups and he's only just starting to understand that if he sucks (instead of bites) the spout something will come out.

Bippity Bopity Boo

What was supposed to be a potato patch is now a pumpkin patch. I planted about 30 potatoes but after a month with only a few sprouted I decided to also plant spaghetti squash and Jack-o-lantern pumpkin seeds. Then a few days ago I decided to also plant some more sunflower seeds amongst the pumpkin vines for fun.

I'm pretty sure these vines are going to prevent us from parking more than one car on the driveway. But that's fine by me!
This sweet boy kitty came to hang out with us while we chatted with a neighbor this morning. He's come into our house before (when the dogs weren't home) and I gave him some milk. I wish I could keep him, he's so sweet. Eddie and I are working on a name for him since we don't know his real name. Any thoughts? I like pet names that are foods.
I love seeing the delicate, winding tendrils on the pumpkin vines...it reminds me of Cinderella. I think I have that Disney movie (on VHS) and I might just watch it later today! It always puts me in the mood to clean and if you could see the dust in my livingroom you'd know that some cleaning inspiration is just what I need right now.
Eddie has a diaper rash as of last night so I think we're going to hang out on the patio naked this afternoon to help clear it up. And then at 6:30pm we get to meet our favorite doctor (Kristin) for dinner at Thai Nakorn. Woo!

Melt My Heart

I. Love. This. Kid. So. Much. It. Hurts. (Sometimes...usually I just look down and see that my heart melted into a puddle on the ground.)

Little John Bower

Eddie has grown to look just like my father-in-law, John. The resemblance is uncanny, really. I knew the male Bower genes were strong, but this is incredible.

We found a extra pair of John's ghetto 1980s glasses by the computer when we were up in Gualala. Of course, we had to put them on Eddie and snap a picture.

These pictures don't show how twin-like they are, but in person you can't miss it. (I should have brought a plaid shirt for Eddie to wear! Next time!)

Gualala, How We Missed You!

Ahhh...Gualala. I haven't been up there since the first week of January. January! That was too long ago. The fog on the coast, the sunshine on the ridge, the smell of salt in the air, my mother- and father-in-law, the fruit trees in their garden...I missed all of it.

From September through December I lived up there about 3/4 of the time so Eddie and I could be with Dave. It was nice being up there, but I really missed our house and our suburban neighborhood, with sidewalks and a proper downtown.

Pre-Eddie we used to go up to Gualala about once a month, if not more often. But now that Dave is off on Fridays and baby sits Eddie that day, us going up there requires him to drive down on Thursday night so he can have Eddie on Friday, then both of us making the 3 hour drive separately up to Gualala for the weekend, and then me driving home with Eddie on Sunday while Dave stays there to work the following week. Ug. This time, however, we had Eddie go to a half day of daycare at Cassie's on Friday (ka-ching...there went $30) so Dave didn't have to come down to watch him.

I was so distracted (read: excited about go up to Gualala) that I wasn't getting much done at school. The instrument wasn't working and the technician guy only had his phone on him so he couldn't look at the screenshots of the error code I had emailed him. So after a while I just decided my time would be better spent driving instead of being frustrated in front of the instrument or *not* writing my scholarship proposal at my desk.

So we left Davis at 2:45 and arrived at 6pm. Eddie slept about half the time, fussed a little, sucked down a bottle while we drove, and looked out the window the rest of the time.

We got to have delicious pizza for dinner (Eddie ate a WHOLE PIECE) and frozen cookies for dessert, in bed.

Saturday Dave worked (to make up some of the many hours lost to the stomach flu) while Eddie and I ran errands for my mother-in-law (grocery shopping for that night's dinner party, picking up people's mail at the post office, buying salsa at the farmers market, gathering some of our remaining household items from the coast house we lived in during the fall, etc.). That afternoon I was able to prepare the entire party meal--uninterrupted!--while Eddie played with his grammy's stuff on the kitchen floor. It was heavenly for everyone. Peggy sat in the kitchen and chatted with me, Eddie played, and I got to cook for a solid two hours. Ahhhhhh....

Eddie eating breakfast in Dave's old highchair:
That night we had 3 guests over for dinner and it was really nice. Eddie ate with us, sitting in Dave's old high chair at the table. He ate a little of everything: baked ham with pineapple rings, scalloped potatoes, salad, crescent rolls, asparagus (he wasn't a fan), and strawberry rhubarb pie. Peggy makes the BEST pies ever and I think this one is now my favorite, even above her apricot.

This morning Dave let me sleep in an extra hour after I nursed Eddie when he woke up. Then we packed up the van, played, and took some family pictures in the front garden. The moment Eddie got sleepy/fussy for his morning nap I boobied him and then popped him in the car where he instantly fell asleep (perfect!). Dave met me downtown with a white mocha and fresh scone from our favorite coffee shop (so I wouldn't have to take Eddie out of the car), we kissed goodbye, and we were off. We got back to Davis at 1pm.

After some lunch, Eddie and I returned my crappy HP laptop to Costco and then bought him a hard plastic kiddie pool and hose-end sprinkler to play with. Once we got home I got him naked so he could play in the water...but of course he didn't play with it. Instead he went straight for the dog water bowl, which we've been keeping out on the patio. We keep it outside since Eddie likes to dump it out and it has been safe there for the last 9 months...but today Eddie started going through the doggie door so now I'll just have to make sure the dogs have fresh water after Eddie dumps it out...

Oh, Eddie has perfected climbing up onto furniture. If there's a backpack or a pillow next to the couch or a chair he can climb right up. He can't walk, but he can climb. What a little weirdo.

Marriage vs. Ph.D.

Check it out.