Ally's Tricks

Hopefully this isn't sideways...we'll see. Luke really loves watching Ally do her tricks. He was laughing and giggling and squealing, and of course the minute we started taping he quieted down. Yep, it's sideways, so torque your neck around there...I don't know how to fix it! sorry

Diaper Day

This morning Luke peed all over his jammies, so he spent an hour or so in his diaper and was just too cute in the mirror. He used to cry when he saw himself in the mirror. Now he smiles and laughs. The collage is something I made in class last night. I only really had pictures of Luke on my flashdrive (I'm pretty much your typical mother that way-dragging out pictures of my kid if anyone asks how he's doing), so this is what I came up with.

Today I have to wash diapers. I don't have to wash them by hand - I have a washing machine. But washing diapers is still some work for me. I don't often think about how much work it is though, since it's just part of life. It's funny how we get used to things...even things we never expected to be doing.

I never expected to be a stay-at-home mom. I never really thought I'd be a mom, I guess. But here we are, and I am not just "used" to it, I am thriving at it. I certainly never expected to be cleaning dirty diapers, spending a large part of my day wiping up poop, snot and spit up. But I am very happy to do it.

I've been thinking a lot about how MUCH we have. We have clothes and food and a beautiful home and family nearby and clean vehicles to get us to and from work and the grocery store. We have money which we often say is just barely enough, but it's so much more than a large percentage of the world has.

It's hard to complain about housework for this very reason. In fact, I am beginning to see that I should feel grateful for these chores. I am thankful that I have a floor to mop. I am thankful that I have dirty dishes from a bountiful meal. I am thankful that I have diapers to clean and water to clean them in.

Skin to Skin

In Derek and my childbirth classes we learned about how important skin-to-skin contact with your baby is - especially in the first few hours. We made a point of holding Luke close because we learned it was important, but before long we also realized what a joy it is to be skin-to-skin with a tiny, silky, slurping baby.

My Mom asked me if Luke had started using his hands while he was eating when he was just a month old and she said that was the sweetest thing when her babies were breastfeeding - when they'd hold their hands up next to their face or just hang onto your shirt. At one month old Luke hadn't started using his hands. He would flail them around and hit himself in the face, but that wasn't the sweetness Mom was talking about.

Luke and I still get lots of skin-to-skin contact during feeding times. Lately he's started using his hands more, and Mom was right - it is the sweetest thing! Luke has his lower arm under my arm (the one holding up his head) and his tiny little hand is on the curve where my underarm becomes my back and he just opens and closes and opens and closes his hand so that he's brushing my skin with the tips of his fingers. When he's tired his top hand will just rest on top of my breast, but when he's energetic he will pull my shirt down over his face and then push it away and smile at me.

A Winter Reflection

I don’t like my toque to be too tight.
Something just isn’t right
About my head
Looking like an empty water balloon
On the end of a spigot
Waiting to be filled.

Today is a cold, windy day. Last night Luke slept fairly well, but was up for an hour around 5am. So this morning he slept in and now doesn't want a nap. I had some plans to go run errands but with the weather being so blustery and no morning nap we are considering an all-out leaving the house boycott.

Conspicuous Mud: Why Rushing Around Doesn't Work

Kathy: Luke just loves his blanket!

Some people thrive on fast-pace, little sleep, never-stop-rat-race. Even I often get a kick out of the adrenaline rush from a fast-pace evening, or as much as a fast-pace week. But time and again I trip over myself and prove that rushing around just does not work for me.

Last night I had aerobics, as usual. The monkey-wrench in the plan for aerobics was that now that Derek is working in the office he works until 5:30 (aerobics starts at 5:45). I figured I could start chili and leave it simmering while I was gone, feed Luke and put him down for a nap while I was gone , leave the moment Derek walked in the door and come home to a hot dinner, a happy baby and a clean, showered husband.

I left the chili simmering, I fed the baby and laid him down and as soon as Derek walked in the door I left. I was still ten minutes late. I parked across the street from the gym since the lot was full and raced into the entry. There are signs everywhere in the gym not to track dirt into the gym, to change into clean shoes, etc. So I never wear my tennies to the gym, I always change into them there. Well I kicked off my boots, tied my tennies and ran across the gym into the workout room and started kicking and stepping and punching with the rest of the women.

It didn’t take long to notice the brown patch growing beneath my feet in the mirror. Now I was wondering what to do – pretend like it wasn’t there and keep working out or leave the workout that I showed up late for, clean my shoes, come back and clean the floor and miss even more of the workout. I chose to clean up. I felt so conspicuous, but I figured it was better to be conspicuous cleaning up my mess than conspicuous for leaving a big muddy mess on the floor.

Finally the whole embarassing evening came to a close and I ran – no, sprinted - home. To top the evening off perfectly I came home to find a fussy baby and burned chili. But I can’t complain too much because Luke slept nine hours the night before, had two two hour naps during the day, and I couldn’t end up eating much chili anyway since my throat is still so sore. Still it ticks me off that my feet were muddy…

Far-Off Friends

Last night I had the wonderful privilege of talking to Kathy on the phone! This morning I talked to another far-off friend, Amanda. And not long after I hung up with Amanda my Plain 'ol Grammy called. I have a few friends here in Winkler now. At least, it's not such a desperate situation. I see Suzy almost every week and I go to the Mom's Group at church. I even have a lunch date with a new friend tomorrow, her name's Celeste (she has lots of potential - Luke spit up on her and she just laughed about it and wiped it off! Definitely a good trait in a new friend). But talking to my wonderful, far-off friends makes "far-off" not seem so far, and I feel refreshed after hearing your familiar voices.

I have to admit that I did not take a new picture of Luke today. This picture in front of the Christmas tree is from Saturday, and the video is from Friday. I am slacking off, but I have a good excuse. I have now been sick for an entire week. I'm going to have a birthday party for my ulcers tonight. You're all invited. I'm serving tea...and that's it.

I am hoping to get a picture of Luke sitting up on his own very soon. Maybe by tomorrow that's what you'll be looking at. He's doing little sit-ups now and I can't leave him in the high chair without buckling him in anymore. He can't sit up from laying down, but he can if he's just reclining - like if he's in my lap leaning back against me. This morning he leaned over and put his foot in his mouth! Everything ends up there if he has his way.

Monday night I had class and Derek did Luke's entire bedtime routine. We decided to try feeding Luke out of a cup instead of the bottle, since he screams so much. Luke loves watching me drink out of a cup and a few times I've let him drink some water out of my cup and he always wants more. A few times I've caught him staring at my glass and gurgling at it. Apparently he really enjoyed the responsibility of eating milk out of a cup, but most of the milk went down his jammies - and Derek had already given him a bath. When all the milk had disappeared (into his jammies or into his mouth) Derek put the cup on the table and Luke just screamed. He was still a little hungry, but mostly he was attached to the glass. I think he would have fallen asleep with his mouth on that empty cup if we'd let him. Luke's cup is his far-off friend.

More Jumping