Apparently, you really can reach “The End of the Internet.”
More Dead End Pages @DMOZ
Justin’s a sneaky devil:
After a couple (or more?) shutter clicks, I opened my eyes to a dark figure pointing a camera at Sara and I sleeping in bed this morning. In any other household, that might be a very.bad.way to wake up, but when you’re married to a professional photographer, you get used to just about anything. Besides, I was so exhausted from Sara’s present schedule that I think I only managed a muffled, “Oh, great!” before slipping right back into REM sleep.
Sleepy sarcasm aside, I’m so glad Justin snapped this shot. As I commented on Flickr, where he posted first posted it to my account, it’s reminiscent of the photo from Mother’s Day morning that he also sneakily captured of Sara and I sleeping.
I think about how I felt about Sara back on Mother’s Day ’07; if asked, back then, I would have said I couldn’t love her more or be more in awe of her as a little human being, but now eight months later? All that love’s still there, and so much more as she develops her personality, explores the world around her, and works on perfecting her mobility and communication skills.
She’s about to close my MacBook on my hands right now, so I guess that’s my cue to end this entry. (Yes, she’s awake at 10:22 PM. We have a fun schedule going right now!)
Has apparently been replaced with a strong-willed, vocal, expert tantrum-thrower and gymnast of the highest order. She woke up at 2, 4, 6 and 8 AM this (Monday) morning–itself, a major departure from the ordinary as she’s been sleeping through the night for months now–and she wanted a bottle three of those times; not only that, she drank 7+ oz. of two of the three bottles. So, we have a growth spurt on our hands, plus (perhaps) molars or other teeth coming in (or maybe just moving around, since her bottom 2 teeth that are in have been slowing straightening themselves after coming in as a “v” orientation?) Or a growth spurt exacerbated by her testing the waters to see how much the world revolves around her? I have a cut upper lip from her gymnastic trick of being mild mannered and “sleepy” one moment and then turning into a possessed creature the next, throwing her head back–HARD–into my face. She didn’t so much as cry, meanwhile I’m trying to tone down my cursing and noting, “Man, she’s drawn blood AGAIN!”
She got herself back, today, though. She is crawling like it’s an Olympic sport now (speed skating has nothing on speed crawling!) and her hands slipped on my parents’ hardwood flooring, sending her into a faceplant. Thankfully, she was crawling vs. walking so there wasn’t too much momentum and height to the fall, but she drew blood on her own lip, as a result. A little crying and she was back to racing around on all fours and pulling up on everything she could to cruise around (the sofa, tables, etc.)
Anyway, between the exercise I put in on Sunday (the 13-mile road bike ride) and Sara’s frequent wake-ups last night, the TTT (Terrible Toddler Tantrums) of today were enough to make me one wasted/tired Momma. Apologies to my folks if I was less than congenial or relaxed company. Sara chilled out a lot once her body finally lost steam and she napped on me for 1.5 hours or so (’til I had to wake her up so I could use the bathroom!) She’s a wonderful chicklet, but she is definitely morphing into her own little person, complete with attitude, opinions and a voice that carries.
I’m so far behind on her baby book so I don’t have dates for these things (I think my mom’s got them noted on her kitchen calendar), but in the past month Sara has picked up the following abilities: waving “Hello” either in response to a wave or to the word “Hello” or “Hi;” she also sometimes waves at the cats, passing cars (if we’re outside people-watching), herself on the MacBook (whether it’s my desktop wallpaper of her or a live feed from PhotoBooth), and to herself in mirrors. She also has gotten more ticklish, and is great fun to “attack” and hear her go into a giggling fit (which we have to stop to remind her “Breathe!” because she gets so excited.) She has said “cat” perfectly on several occasions, and looks around her for a cat if we ask her where the cat is. She may also have said “kitty cat” before. “Cat” sounds oddly like “Dad(a)” sometimes, because she repeats it — “Cat Cat” without a sharp “t” sound, usually. Justin and I have heard her say a perfect “Yeah” and “Uh huh” several times at home, which figures since those are words we use quite a bit (so much for Southern hospitality, “Yes ma’am/sir” or “Correct” rarely come out of our mouths, at least around the house.)
Mobility-wise, I really think Sara might be walking before her next well-baby checkup (March 17, I think?) She can balance for more than 8 seconds on the bed, which when you think about it is not the easiest place to balance even for an adult. In the past two days, I’ve also realized she can (if she wants to–she has to be in the right mood to do it) walk with me if I just hold one of her hands. She tires quickly because the balance is still not quite there, but she’s -> < - this close to figuring it out. It's time for me to buy baby gates, but everytime I have time to research them I find myself lost in a sea of mixed reviews. I want a sturdy gate that can't be jarred lose by Sara or our cats, but I also don't want one that I have to wrestle with excessively or have wear out prematurely because I am up and down our stairs constantly at home.
Babyproofing is part-way done in other regards--cabinet locks installed throughout (done months ago, thanks to help from my Dad since we lack a proper power drill/screwdriver--lame, I know!), and a door lock to our exterior door (need to add another to our laundry room/garage door), and of course outlet covers. But now that Sara is so much taller, pulling up and cruising on two legs now and crawling at Warp Factor 9.5, I really need to get down on all fours (SHUSH!) and start relocating picture frames, Justin's model airplanes, power cords, doorstops (need to get the child-safe ones instead of the dangerous tightly wound metal spring ones with the easily removed plastic caps), etc. The baby gate I use in our living room is great, but it's now best-suited to uses where it is placed flush against something (sofa, our rowing machine--sigh), etc. because Sara's weight and strength can flex it outward. I probably should zip-tie it to things so it can't also be pulled forward. Even her nursery isn't entirely babyproofed because the changing table's lowest shelf is strong enough to hold diapers and whatnot, but it isn't strong enough if Sara chose to climb on to it. I also am not keen on the old-style toy chest I have in her room (it doesn't have a brace that keeps it propped open), so a trip to Lowes is in our future. In the meantime, it will probably mean moving the toy chest into her closet.
At my folks house, she's doing pretty well but keeps me on my feet (literally, like a Jack-in-the-box) by doing rapid crawling circuits from their family room to their foyer and back to their dining area. Thankfully (knock on wood), she has not discovered stairs yet at either of our houses because, really, while "No" is the correct thing to be saying as we redirect her unsafe behaviors, it certainly doesn't elicit the desired response yet.
Outside, also with the help of my parents, we have addressed a major safety concern we had by building out a finished side of fence (the do-nothing neighbors on that side haven't replaced so much as a single broken and/or missing board, despite the rapid destruction of same, and we had the cross-beams on our side, so we couldn't even tack up replacements for them (it would require entering their yard). Anyway, said neighbors own varying numbers and types of dogs (varying, because they keep running away under/through holes in their dilapidated fence), although they claim to only have one dog (I guess the others we see are UFOs--Unidentified Fido Objects?)
Anyway, by building the equivalent of a duplicate fence on our side, which we can easily replace boards on as needs warrant over time, we can finally take Sara into our backyard again and not have to deal with constant dog incursions from the neighbors' yard. Amen!
In addition to reincorporating exercise into my routine, I plan to get Sara out to local playgrounds and parks more often than I have now that she is bigger and really loves watching and interacting with other children. It's not like she's never around other kids--she's got tons of cousins locally--but she really enjoys the interaction, and heaven knows her momma needs some more Vitamin D (sunshine) and time away from the computer. We were going to take her to the Zoo on Justin's birthday earlier this month, but a cold front blew through and it was crazy-nasty weather. Soon, though, soon. That, and I want to get a tent camping trip scheduled for the three of us; we'll probably stick close to home, to the park Justin and I first camped at together all those years ago (Guadalupe River State Park.
First off, if you missed my entry from December 21, entitled “Back on the Bike,” you might want to pop over there to read it, and wander back.
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Hey, good to see you again!
So, I’m not proud to admit that I hadn’t gotten back in the saddle since my wipeout off the paved roadway and into the gravel just before Christmas. For awhile, my excuses were valid and I held firm–I was physically beat up (knee, hip, elbow and shoulder, plus a pulled muscle in my lower back); then I was sick for awhile; then it was insanely windy and/or cold, and I can’t justify investing in all the expensive road cycling gear Justin owns until I get back to my “fighting weight”; then the excuses ran out. Justin had floated the idea of just having the clipless pedals removed from my brand new road bike, so I could ride it using plain old platform pedals (the kind you probably rode on as a child–nothing fancy, no special shoes required.) I hated the thought at first, seeing it as a failure (still do, kinda,) but the fact of the matter is suddenly my MENTAL BRUISES from the fall were all that was left in my excuse pile, and that’s a crappy reason not to get on a sweet new bike (that we received a $400 reimbursement for from Justin’s current/my former employer) and just.ride!
So, yesterday at noon (when our favorite local bike shop–Bicycle Heaven opens on Sundays,) Justin brought my Felt FW35 road bike in and had them replace my clipless pedals for a cheap pair of platform pedals. Cost? $0.00 Sweet! (Truth be told, with a little elbow grease, I’m sure I could have removed the clipless pedals myself, but I didn’t have any platform pedals to put on as a replacement.)
So, yesterday I finally got back on the bike and got to enjoy a good, solid 13-mile road bike ride with Justin and my brother-in-law, David. Riding without the clipless pedals, and thus not having to worry about forgetting to clip out at stop signs/lights or dodgy situations (eg. dog running into the road or whatnot), let me focus on all the other things about this new bike, and road biking in general, that I need to get used to. Much of it is physical, or more aptly, physics–you get moving at high speed a lot faster, and a lot more easily, on a road bike than on a mountain bike (which is MUCH heavier, has a lot of drag with its fat, knobby tires, and doesn’t place your body in as aerodynamic a posture); you have vehicles, including semi’s and F-350′s speeding by your left shoulder while you focus on staying well to the right in the bicycle lane (when you have one!) yet not so far that you hit every piece of debris or ruined roadway that collects there; when you turn your head to look over your shoulder (to check for vehicles or fellow riders), you can’t whip your head and upper body around like you do on a mountain bike unless you’re ready to send yourself careening this way and that while you regain your balance and stability. Etc. Lots of easily surmountable things that just take a little time and some miles under your seatpost to get in check, but lots of things that I was fighting in addition to the FEAR FACTOR of clipless pedals, particularly after my December wipeout.
I posted two pics related to yesterday’s ride on Flickr. One shows me before our 13-mile ride, and the other shows me back at home last night, happy to have finally removed the one obstacle keeping me from getting into a bicycling routine.
It was terrific to finally join my brother-in-law and Justin–who’s been a weekly road biker for 2 years, now–on a 13-mile road bike ride — see my stats for part of the ride. Since I forgot to turn my GPS on sooner, also check out Justin’s stats for the entire ride.
I may always be a mountain biker at heart, but road biking lets me burn more calories faster and with less driving to a locale to START my rides.
Watch the “My Latest Exercise” section in the sidebar on the upper-right side of GeekHabitat.com’s pages for the GPS track/map, speed and heart rate data for each of my road bike rides. The one for Sunday’s ride downplays the actual ride, logging just shy of 8 miles of the full 13-mile ride we did… nimwit here forgot to turn her GPS on so it started tracking a little late.
From the medical research studies whose findings seem a little suspect department comes a study that drinking 1-2 alcoholic drinks per day and exercising offers more cardiac and cholesterol benefits than exercising longer and -not- imbibing at all (or much less than 1-2 drinks/day, at any rate.) They go so far as to say that those who drink 1-2 alcoholic drinks per day and DON’T exercise have the same cardiac benefits as those who do not drink but DO exercise. The study’s sample size and duration? 12,000 people over a 20-year period, so pretty compelling, right?
The next thing I expect to hear is that consuming an entire Hershey bar a day actually causes you to gain IQ points or something…
It sounds great and all, but before you do a fist pump in the air and throw back those 1-2 drinks a day, the study found there was no benefit in drinking this often until you were at least 45 years of age… and you can’t save up your “weekly allotment” of alcohol for the week and consume it all in one sitting, either.
/shrug
My vice is Dr. Pepper. I might as well have an I.V. drip of the stuff, and it’s been that way for years (with only one blip in the right direction, when I was pregnant and intentionally cut back, and then lost the taste for the stuff entirely, for a time.) As far as alcohol, I have maybe six to eight alcoholic drinks PER YEAR (always a pina colada, nothing fancier, stronger or more “cultured” or “cool” than that. Sorry homebrew-meisters, I can’t stand beer at all, or at least haven’t met one I like) I’m a little ahead for the year so far, having already had two pina coladas in mid-January. I’d rather cut out Dr. Pepper entirely, thereby reducing the empty calories and excessive sugars and caffeine, than hop on the drinking bandwagon. Perhaps if I liked something a little harder and less calorie-rich than pina coladas, I’d be doing the fist pump celebration, too. Maybe it’s time to crack open the half dozen or so wines we’ve amassed over the years (and probably been storing improperly the entire time!)
.meh, I think I’ll just hop on the bike more and down Dr. Pepper less, and stick to my 6-8 alcoholic drinks a year. For every study that says something helps your heart/lungs/brain, a subsequent study finds it doubles your risk of cancer or causes premature something or was a flawed study to begin with, and actually hastens heart/lung disease or mental defects.
Everything in moderation.
Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. 
No, how to make a woman scream is much less exciting than what you’re thinking. It involves a toddler with teeth and a very tender portion of a woman’s anatomy that is generally not publicly viewable (unless you’re performing during the Superbowl wearing a suspect wardrobe item.)
So, yeah, that comment I made several days ago about breastfeeding a toddler with teeth not really being that different than breastfeeding a newborn or infant that hasn’t yet cut his/her teeth? Total bollocks. She’s bitten me FOUR TIMES in the past TWO DAYS, drawing blood TWICE. Yes, I screamed out loud… expletives, even (great, more inspiration for her first words!)
It’s a good thing we’re breastfeeding primarily only to soothe at this point (clearly, to soothe her, as the prospect of being bitten is not the least bit soothing to me!) because I’m not sure my nerves and nipples can take this for much longer. Before the biting started, I’d already gone back to my pre-pregnancy birth control pill (a multi-hormone pill with the highest effectiveness, but with a likelihood that it will diminish my milk supply) vs. the “mini-pill” which I went on after delivery (to avoid the milk supply issues of the former.) So the biting isn’t an issue insofar as I’ve already been gradually weaning Sara from breastmilk… thank goodness. (I stopped pumping at 7 months. More power to anyone who pumps exclusively or for more than half a year–it was a total time sink, and a frustrating exercise for someone like me who never had an over-abundant supply.)
Anyway, just an update to indicate that I’ve now experienced the full affect of teeth. Yeouch!
But, hey, Sara has (so far) never been sick — not even a fever (except after two of her routine immunization series.)
