Marauding Around

Whoever says that walkers are "bad" for babies is completely out of their minds! Not only does Daniel love to be in there (see video) but he chills out there and allows us to make dinner and clean the kitchen. Endless thanks to the Holsapple family for letting us have it!

Matt likes to tell me all about Daniel's "marauding" during the day when Daniel uses his walker to kind of take over the kitchen. The best is when we're at our sink (corner sink... never do that if you're renovating a kitchen) and he corners us. Hilarious.

This was our very first game of "chase me". Precious.

Proof of the Crawl!

And for his video debut in Crawling (not to be confused with "Curling" which Daniel has deemed boring)...

And Then He Crawled

Note it today, people:

7 months, 3(ish) weeks...

Crawling.

So cute I can't even believe it.

So scary I can't even believe it.

Hardest diaper change of all time about an hour after said crawling began.

Daniel Rocks the Playground

First, apologies for the lack of posts. Remind me to post about being a working mom.

On Sunday we were lucky enough for a little bit of mild weather and took the opportunity to head to Van Vorst Park for a little family fun. While I've taken Daniel to the swings before, the only time we've actually been in the playground section was when friends were visiting with their 3 year old kids and Daniel slept in the baby bjorn.

Well, not today. Playgrounds everywhere should be on the lookout for this kid!

Weaning

Yesterday was the first day that I did not nurse Daniel or pump in his absence.

I've been weaning him for about a month, which had convinced me that it would be easy to close this chapter of our lives... but after speaking to my friend, Sara, tonight I have to admit that it's taking a bit more of an emotional toll than I expected or planned on.

If you recall from this previous post (oh my how little Daniel was then), breastfeeding did not come easily to me. In fact, I struggled through every day of it for 6 weeks and cried my way through countless days and nights. But, once it all clicked into place I was able to experience something that fills me with such joy and pride that it's actually difficult to express in words.

As the time came for me to return to work, I was offered a new position which would require me to travel and I knew I didn't want to travel with my pump. So, I began the task of weaning. I slowly withdrew one "meal" a day from my body, watching in amazement as my milk supply automatically adjusted to meet the needs of the demand (demand being meals). I wondered if it affected Daniel emotionally, but this kid will eat anything - be it breast, bottle or floor tile - so I wasn't so worried.

But by the time I was only nursing Daniel in the morning, I realized that it just wasn't enough. He seemed to be losing interest and not nursing for as long as usual and seemed to focus only on playing in our bed with us.

So, yesterday Daniel woke up earlier than usual and I jumped out of bed, went to the kitchen and prepared a bottle of formula.

Daniel downed it.

I, on the other hand, felt like something great was missing from my morning. The only cuddling time that I ever get these days now that my little baby boy is constantly moving and reaching and squirming is in the early morning when he snuggles up next to me, nurses, dozes off and nurses again. And I made the decision to end that.

And while it's sad for me and the actual physical feelings cannot be replicated, I am lucky that all of Daniel's delicious nursing habits have remained with bottles. He pushes his head against my chest, wraps one hand around my back and pinches my skin and uses his other hand to play with my hair, touch my neck and chest while he looks me in the eyes and smiles.

Bye, bye nursing. See you next baby!

7 Months Already!? A long post

Another month - a whole new baby boy!

Daniel is simply amazing and is getting cooler, funnier, smarter and cuter by the day! Here are some new highlights:
1. In his never ending attempt to crawl, Daniel is mastering a very groovy move that starts as swimming and ends in a plank. It's like he remembers me doing Pilates when I was newly preggers! I must get this on video.
2. What a talker! Daniel's vocab is robust (and I'm not just talking about the VERY WET raspberries!). He really likes Bs, Zs, Ds and Ahhhs. (I just spent 2 hours trying to rotate this video, so I'm over it - enjoy it sideways!)

3. A foodie in the making. Daniel is pretty much eating (and enjoying) almost anything. He is still a sucker for avocado, but he is now eating whole milk plain yogurt (no sugary stuff for him), he tasted and LOVED some tomato soup the other day and loves a homemade broccoli puree. We're starting beans, tofu and salmon next! He also recently mastered his "pincher reflex" so he's picking up little "puffs" and getting them into his mouth (again, sorry about the sideways video).

4. He hangs out, plain and simple. We just spent a weekend in Stowe, Vermont for Daniel's Uncle Richie's birthday in a beautiful house with 13 people. Daniel was MVP. Never cried, always happy, ate snow, slept amazingly every night and didn't wake anyone up too early in the morning. Perfect kid. Here he is in the snow and with the other Birthday Boy, which may be one of my favorite pictures to date!


5. He talks himself to sleep (see previous post)
6. He loves to be naked!

7. (My personal fave) Daniel goes CRAZY when I come home from work. Today he screamed and giggled when he saw me and continued to laugh hysterically and love on me for a good hour. It was HEAVENLY!

I told my mother-in-law that I am literally counting my blessings right now. I have an unbelievable son, I absolutely love my job, we just bought a brownstone that we get to completely renovate and my husband is the best stay-at-home dad in the world. Life is sweet!

Business trip...the last night

Hmmm... the last night of a business trip (and a Google business trip at that) has taken on a bit more meaning.

On one hand, I've returned to my hotel room with a husky voice, ringing ears and a burning curiosity about what else is happening at the karaoke bar that I just left all of my work friends at (yes, I killed it at "Magic Man", by the way). I've had an amazing few days of being re-energized, educated and reunited with so many people I love at work whom I haven't seen since I left for my maternity leave.

On the other hand, however, I am missing both of my boys so much at this point that I can barely hold it together until I get home. Hold on to my sanity and, in a way, my knowledge of mommiehood. Since I've been in California, I've called every night around 6pm EST when Matt would put me on speaker and I could speak to Daniel. Tonight, however, I missed the window and didn't call. I spoke to Matt at about 1pm EST when he was driving to the shore and Daniel was asleep in the car. From that point on I was kind of wrapped up in the work sessions and then the dinner, drinks and the enormous amount of fun that followed.

I feel ridiculously guilty about not calling, but I was in a meeting that I just really didn't want to miss. Does this make me a bad wife or mom? I doubt it. But, it makes me feel like I am literally bursting at the seams to see my men.

Less than 24 hours and I'll be home. I promise to try to never be gone for so long again.

Daniel Falling Asleep

I'm feeling much better about being on my business trip (thank you to everyone who gave me amazing words of encouragement) and to make me feel closer to home, Matt took this video tonight. We are lucky to have a baby who puts himself to sleep -and very happy that we spent $300 on a video monitor to see him in action! The video is a little long - but totally worth it for the end!

My First Business Trip

I think that "the first night away" is a big milestone as a new mom...especially a breastfeeding mom simply because I really was the only person who could feed my son for months on end, so the first time I spent more than a few hours away was hectic and stressful. Then a few weeks ago, I spent my first night away from Daniel (see earlier post). Matt and I dropped him off with family at 5pm and we returned at 9am. We were 20 short minutes away.

Well, those milestones were nothing compared to this! I just checked into a hotel 3,000 miles away from my baby. I'm in San Francisco and will be here for the next 4 days. I feel lonely and sad and, of course, guilty. I guess my feelings are quite complex because I feel guilty for leaving him AND for wanting to be here.

I just took on a new role at work which will require travel a few times a quarter. This is where the complexity comes in. I actually love traveling for business. Visiting other Google offices is so much fun and getting around the country is always exciting. So how do I separate wanting to go on business trips from wanting to leave Daniel? Should I not want to travel anymore? Will I get used to it (I sobbed when Matt and Daniel dropped me off at the airport -Daniel staring at me with a smile through the window didn't help!)?

I'm also a bit more emotional because I started weaning about a month ago and I'm down to only nursing Daniel in the morning and before bed. Being gone for 5 days is just a weaning slap in the face! I really hope to continue to nurse him in the morning and at night when I come home (yes, I'm pumping... funny story from the airplane) but what if he just isn't interested?

And, of course, I have to wonder if he'll even remember me by the end of the week?

I'm craving him and I've only been away for 8 hours. I never knew this feeling could exist.