Anniversary

Two years ago tonight I found out I was pregnant. All of a sudden this week doesn’t seem so bad anymore.

I’ll just have a diet coke, thanks.

One evening back in August while up in Seattle for Quinn’s triathlon, the subject of Clamato came up. Quinn and I both started expressing our disgust over the existence of this atrocity of a beverage, but Lindsey didn’t know what it was. Quinn starts explaining: “Clamato is a drink made from clams and tomatoes. You know, kind of like how Orangina is made from oranges and vaginas.”

Still funny.

Five AND six month updates…

Dear Holland,

I am sure by this point you must be aware of my complete inability to blog when I am supposed to. Just know that I THINK about it a lot, okay? Tonight we are going to review your fifth and sixth months here with us. Get ready.

When we left off, you were fresh out of your first Christmas. God, aren’t you glad that’s over? Me too. Soon after was New Year’s Eve and January…the lamest month around. But don’t worry, we made it through. You had quite a few landmarks that month. You grew not one, but two teeth. Your first one came in shortly before your five month appointment. We were at one of your shot appointments (sidenote: I am extending/modifying your shot schedule out of a great fear of vaccinations. So we are at the doctor a lot…oh well). Anyway, we were at the doctor for one of your shot appointments, and when you started screaming, I noticed that you had a tooth. Wow! Way to go Holland! You were teething and I didn’t even know it. You rock. But you already knew that, didn’t you?

Soon after that, we were at your five month appointment and your doctor was VERY impressed by the presence of that tooth. She was also impressed by how AWESOME you are. I believe her exact words were that you are “three months ahead of schedule” on verbal and social development. Really, are we surprised about that? No. So basically, you are Superbaby. You really do charm everyone you meet, your doctor included. Other milestones of five months? Let’s see…you started holding your own bottle…

You learned how to sit up…

AND how to roll over.

So February. Month six. You actually turned six months old six days ago. I knew I was a mom when I was completely preoccupied by the fact that the 28th was your six-month birthday, and didn’t realize it was the last day of the month until the next day when it was March.

You finally became interested in solid foods this month.

We had tried rice cereal a few times and you really weren’t that into it, so your doctor told me to just skip it and try vegetables instead. You really like sweet potatoes, and I actually started sending them to daycare with you today. Speaking of daycare, last week we had a little mishap. I (STUPIDLY) decided to try and trim your nails one morning, and accidently cut the tip of your finger with the clippers. You didn’t really scream for that long, but still…I don’t think I have ever felt so bad about something in my whole life.

Your six month doctor appointment is next week on Friday, and I cannot WAIT. You are so charming and funny and amazing, and I can’t wait to see your doctor swoon over how awesome you are. You have recently become totally enamored with the dogs (which really, I don’t get at all, but whatever) and are also going through a “I only sleep in my mom’s bed” phase, which I can live with. Recent (financial) events have us living in Vancouver with your grandma for longer than I planned to, but it’s okay. I don’t mind sharing a bed with you at all.

Love,

Mom

A Year in Search Terms

I have a stats program installed on my blog that gives me some fun information on who is visiting my blog. Nothing too crazy of course, just typical stuff like I can see the IP address of commenters (not a big deal since my commenters are Alana and my mother about 90 percent of the time). Basically I check it out on occasion to see how many people viewed my blog on a certain day. My biggest day was, not surprisingly, the day I THOUGHT Holland was going to be born, August 27th. I had 99 views that day. Big time blogging! Anyway, my favorite thing about the program is how it shows me the specific terms people searched for on a search engine that made them land on my blog. Often it is just “itsybitsybaby” or “alexia lysandra” or something that shows that they were specifically trying to find me and it is someone I know. But what is really fun are the terms people search and randomly stumble upon me. Alana has been bugging me to write this blog since this summer. With 2008 ending tomorrow, I thought I would finally document it for all to see. So here we go:

My Top Ten Favorite 2008 Search Terms That Led to ME!

10. tillamook cheese and pregnancy (Oh Tillamook…you and your cheese curds are such a tease!)
9. baby clothe swear house (This one creeps me out. Is it a horror film?)
8. “i am barefoot” (hippy la la, is that you?)
7. future nordstrom leaders (This one freaked me out a little at first (Big Nordstrom Brother! Stop watching me!) until I realized I had mentioned being in FNL in a past blog. Phew)
6. styrofoam cubes for sale (Internet search engine user, you have come to the right place)
5. where in the netherlands can i have a 3d ultrasound (Again. Totally the right place)
4. vancouver living (Holland and I will be on the cover of the upcoming spring issue)
3. why does my baby’s forehead look big (Warning: your future son or daughter MAY have a complex if you make this an issue)

Number two is a tie: “slutty baby clothes” and “fleas in bassinet.” The discovery of this fun little combo back in August inspired this IM to Alana:

12:35 PM me: somebody found my blog by googling “slutty baby clothes”
12:36 PM between that and “fleas in bassinet” from earlier in the week, I pretty much feel like i can win the best parent ever award

While those were my two longstanding favorite terms, today someone used one that bumped them out of the number one spot. Drumroll please.

And my number one favorite search term that lead to my blog in 2008 IS…………..

1. feel like shit pregnant

Yeah, I’d say that pretty much summed up my year!

Farewell 2008! I won’t miss you in the slightest!

Four Month Update

Dear Holland,

Yesterday you turned four months old. I know! I can’t believe it either. You are getting so big. This month we had a lot of holiday festivities on our plate. We started things out with a visit to Santa at Pioneer Place. I didn’t even bother scanning your photo with santa like I was planning. Because I hated it. It didn’t even look like you!  But I guess that is about all I can expect from a mall santa and the 14 year old employees taking the pictures. I have taken better pictures of you with my phone. Like this one, for example:

That dress you have on? I bought that back in February, well before my 18 week ultrasound confirming that you were in fact a girl. I broke down and walked over to Gymboree one day at lunch, and found that dress on sale. I snatched it up, hoping I wasn’t jinxing myself. I envisioned you wearing it later in the year for Christmas, and like always, it still amazes me to see all my daydreams about you coming true.

That bow I put on your head for the picture lasted just about as long as I expected it to:

So…it got really cold this month. December 2008: Brought to you by…HATS!

And of course, who could forget ARCTIC BLAST 2008! Two weeks of the coldest, deepest, most annoying snow I have ever experienced in my life. We braved it a few times to get downtown to do some christmas shopping, but mostly stayed in where it was warm. Mostly.

One of the most exciting moments of the month was the day I discovered the Moby Wrap. After reading my update last month, full of complaints about how much you and I hate the Bjorn, my coworker Scott’s wife Annie pleaded with me to not give up on babywearing, and even let me borrow their Moby Wrap. I was a little nervous to try it at first, given our rocky history with babywearing, but when the snow kept falling and you and I needed a way to get around downtown without a stroller, I thought I would try it out. I figured it out after reading some simple instructions online, and carried you around happily for hours. We trudged through the snow, shopped, stood in line at Chipotle, and hung out with your uncle and your dad at Rockbottom. You happily looked around at the lights and activity, slept peacefully and even had a bottle, all snug in the Moby. It was amazing. As soon as I have a chance, I am getting us down to Bella Stella and buying us one of our very own.

Other milestones of the month…you have have been REALLY into your hands for a while, but have only very recently discovered your feet. I have a feeling it’s only going to be a matter of time before you manage to get them into your mouth (as your other main interest of SUCKING ON ANYTHING remains unchanged). You started drinking exclusively formula this month, as my attempts at keeping you on breastmilk have failed miserably since returning to work. I felt like a bit of a failure, but I did try my hardest. You have been much happier since I started you on formula, and jumped from 3 ounces per feeding to 8 ounces in less than two weeks. You attack each bottle like it’s the last you might ever see, and I think we have that to blame for the CHEEKS. Oh the cheeks.

We did try out solid food this month. My mom told me that she started me on solids when I was much younger than you are (I think you get your ravenous appetite from me…it doesn’t go away…sorry about that) so I figured it was worth a shot with you. You had about three bites and then lost interest. But we will keep trying. Because I hate the way formula smells. And really, sometimes you watch me while I eat and I just KNOW that you want a french fry.

And of course, who can forget about Christmas. You slept through most of it and got more presents than anyone.

We’ve (almost) made it through 2008, Holland, and I know 2009 is going to be a good year for us. You are a very busy girl and I can’t wait to see what else you have in store for me.

Love,

Mom

Here is a list of things I could have blogged about in the last three weeks

1. How I am spending my last weeks of maternity leave (Surprise! Unproductively!)

2. The debacle of the house flooding.

3. How much I hate the dogs.

4. Our trip to Colorado!

5. Holland’s two month update.

6. Election night

7. How Baby Einstein products have improved my life.

8. Holland’s discovery of her hands and of screaming for no reason.

9. How is it possible that I have lost 45 pounds and still have 25 more to lose? HOW????

10. What a pathetic blogger I have become.

Five Things

In an effort to get myself writing, here is a list of five random things about me. This is a total cop-out, but my brain doesn’t work very well anymore.

1. I salt my grilled cheese sandwiches. A habit I picked up from an ex-boyfriend. It sounds weird but is sooo good. Because the butter and cheese just aren’t enough…
2. My views on abortion changed drastically after getting pregnant. I am a true liberal at heart and would still NEVER vote pro-life, but I definitely have a different opinion on when life “begins.”
3. I would never wear shoes if I didn’t have to. I am barefoot most of the time, and prefer that to having anything on my feet. Being on maternity leave is great because I am always in my pajamas. I have a HUGE collection of shoes that I haven’t worn in months, and it is going to take some getting used to when I have to start wearing them again.
4. When I was in kindergarten I wanted to be an archaeologist when I grew up. I used to spend hours digging around looking for “fossils” because someone told me that rocks were really dinosour eggs. This older boy at our apartment complex playground used to make fun of me about it constantly and successfully squashed my dreams. I am pretty sure he a drug addict now.
5. I AM REALLY EXCITED TO GO BACK TO WORK! I always thought that being a stay-at-home-mom would be the most fun job ever…but I am getting bored in a big way. I love my baby a lot, but I am looking forward to the day that I can pay someone else to watch her for a few hours so I can go interact with grown-ups and use my brain.