Bean's a year old now, which is the time frame I'd always had in my mind for weaning. Add to it that he has 8 teeth and my production has dropped dramatically, and it would seem that nature agrees. He does a great job with solids - opening his mouth like a little bird and trying everything - so I don't think this will pose a problem. I'm just not sure of the exact logistics for doing this successfully. What I *am* sure of is my desire to have my boobs back and to no longer feel like a dairy.

Ode to Weaning
Oh how I miss my old boobies
Due to gravity and the work of Bean's mouth
What once so proudly pointed northward
Alas have begun to head south

Labels: Bean

Yesterday, Skatcat said the day's post wasn't very saccharin. Today, I'm probably gonna break that. Bean is ONE today. Sweet jumping jeebus. How is it that a year of this kid's life has gone by so freakishly fast? Two seconds ago he was rolling over for the first time. Now he's almost walking. And he is so effing smart. And has a great sense of humor. I am endlessly grateful that he's a part of our lives.


Happy birthday, Beanie. Your mommies love you more than anything!

Labels: Bean, monthly recap

One year ago today, I was in very active labor. The doctor had warned that if I didn't go into labor on my own, then by Friday he was going to induce. I'd already had a few false starts, so an induction and potential C-section were looming.

I'm sure you've heard all the "surefire" ways of naturally inducing labor. There's nipple stimulation (nope, just annoying); "The Salad" from Caioti Pizza (yummy, but no dice - though one woman's account that it induced a massive fart at 4:00 in the morning made me giggle); sex (for lesbians, this doesn't work at all - it's not the nookie, but the...um... "man juice" shall we say? that does it); an enema (I'll spare you that); long walks (nope) and finally castor oil. It was down to the end. So I went to the drug store... and bought... castor oil. (Cue dramatic organ music.)

I had been warned to have a glass of OJ to cut the ooze that was going to make its way down my throat. Very. Good. Advice. Chug-a-lug... Taste-wise, not too nasty, but imagine thick oil coating your entire mouth and you'll understand why that OJ was sage advice.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the intended effect of castor oil, it's supposed to make you poop. I guess the thinking is that if everything below your boobs is intent on expelling something, then your uterus may as well join the party. Take a crap and out pops a baby!

As advertised, the castor oil worked. Contractions began and this time they didn't stop. In the wee hours of October 23rd, Bean entered the world.

And tomorrow he turns one.

I may just crap myself all over again.

Labels: Bean

Saturday was Bean's 7-month birthiversary. We celebrated by going to this park and playing on the swings (big hit) and chilling out in the shade (bigger hit).


On the blanket, Bean practiced his crawling, which is _thisclose_ to being a full-on crawl. Depending on the surface, he'll either do what we call "scrabbling" or he'll use his head as a means of locomotion. On a smooth surface (like wood floors) he'll scrabble, which is a cross between a dog paddle stroke and actual crawling. He revs his engines and all 4 limbs work like mad to propel him a foot or two. It's grossly inefficient, but he can get from point A to B with surprising speed. On a softer surface (like our bed), his butt goes up in the air and pulls himself forward by putting his forehead down and bending his neck. Talk about using your head...

On the flip side, his periods of inactivity (sleep) are changing. From time to time he'll go down for a monster nap. Rather than his typical 45-minute jobbie, he'll crash for 2 hours. When these long naps happen during the week, it's fantastic. Sweetie can get a whole mess of work done without interruption. When they happen on the weekend, they usually torpedo any social plans we may have had. But a nap's a nap so I'll take it!

Labels: Bean, monthly recap

I'm a bit of a font dork. (Actually, I'm a dork in general, but that's a different post for another day.) I like looking at signage and seeing if I recognize the font. One of my favorite signs in LA is on the no-longer-in-business House of a Thousand Fabrics. I love the mid-century script they used:


Given this, it should come as no surprise that I decided to create an alphabet series for Bean. I used 26 fonts; each font name begins with the letter of the alphabet it's representing. I still don't know what I want to do with it - wallpaper border? Framed art? Big poster?


Any ideas?


The fonts - in case you're as big a dork as me (in which case: hi! drop me a line!) - are:

Aardvark Cafe
Bauhaus 93
Caitlyn
Daly Hand
Eco-Files
Farang
Giddyup
Halbstarke
Informal Roman
Jester
Kawoszeh
Larabie
Madfont
Nickelodeon
Old English Text
Patrick
Quixotte
RaggMopp
Sala de Fiestas
Transformers
Ultima Campagnoli
Vendetta
Weirdmojo
XenoWort
Yellow Submarine
Zebrra

Labels: Bean, time wasters

I know, I know... I haven't posted in forever and you are sick of seeing Sarah (funny though she may be). So how about a video of our favorite Bean instead? The video quality is crap, but that's what you get from a cell phone. Rather than focusing on the quality, enjoy the subject matter. It's his first time at the beach and his first time in a baby swing. Summer fun times ahead!

Labels: Bean

We call this series "Crap on Bean's Head Because A) It's Funny and B) Mommy is (Really) Easily Amused."








The upshot is the mouse ears that Nona bought at Christmas are getting use!

Labels: Bean

Hi, remember me? The one who is supposed to man this ship and actually post stuff? Turns out these things don't write themselves, so I thought I'd actually dust off the keyboard and get y'all up to speed.

Today marks Bean's big half year mark. Six months and we've managed to keep some semblance of sanity - woo! Not only that, but it seems we're doing a decent job. At his six-month check-up, the doctor confirmed that he's in the 50th percentile - for a 9-month-old. Yup, we grow 'em big here.

In the past month Bean has finessed the art of rolling over rapidly. Good for motor development, bad for leaving him in bed alone. Nap time is now accompanied by a mountain of pillows. He's also vocalizing like crazy and it's hi-freaking-larious to watch. Big facial expressions accompanied by a barrage of sounds. So cute. And he knows it, too. To celebrate, he claps and waits until we join in with the applause. Though the talk is meaningless, he does know how to use sign to communicate. So far, he's got "all done," "milk," and "more" in his arsenal. You have to watch closely, though, lest "milk" be signed very near bare skin and you get raked by 5 tiny daggers. Given his size, you can tell that "milk" is one of his faves.

He's been eating a lot, which makes me eat like a pig. (Thanks for that, Bean.) We've decided that we're going to have to put him to work before he eats us out of house and home:

Best to get started early.

Labels: Bean, monthly recap

Picture it: a late night and a family getting ready for bed. Mama is brushing her teeth, Mommy is changing the baby's diaper on the bed. Mama finishes brushing just in time to hear, "OOP! Shoot! Quick - grab me a towel!"

The scene in the bedroom looks like this: semi-nude boy child with his nether regions exposed and his Mommy (quite unsuccessfully) trying to catch and hold his pee. Seems someone forgot to A) put Bean down on his changing pad and B) put a fresh diaper underneath. Since it's so late, the mommies briefly consider not changing the sheets. (Oh, hush - it's warm for a moment and it was late! Plus it was a MOMENT.) Before the decision can even be debated, the youngest amongst us decided to decide for us.

By peeing AGAIN. Without a diaper.

We never learn.

Labels: Bean, misc

You know how you can tell it's been a while since posting? Because our amazing Bean has gone from hating a bottle to loving a sippy cup. It's like he's telling us there's no use in shining him on with as-close-to-boob-as-possible warmed milk in a boobie-like nippled bottle. Cut the crap, Mommy. Now he takes cold milk in a cup. Such a big boy - and low maintenance, too!


And did I mention cute as the dickens?

Labels: Bean

...it must be the glasses.

Labels: Bean

I'll just barely squeeze this recap in before Bean's 5 month mark is officially over. As I type, he's asleep beside me on the couch, having squirmed himself into a REALLY uncomfortable looking position. (I tried to move him a few times, and he keeps going back to that position, so I guess he likes it. Ouch.) This position really shows how big he's become in the last month. According to his pediatrician, he's in the 97th percentile across the board. Not that I hold much stock in that, but at least he's proportioned well and not like he has a 97th percentile body and 4th percentile head.

If you didn't know better, you'd swear Bean's a 6-month-old. Not only does his size lead you to believe that, but sporting 2 cutie teeth and sitting up unassisted drive that point home. And if you watch carefully, he's started using his first sign - all done - with some regularity. If you don't know sign, no matter, he'll chatter to you all day long. It's the cutest thing in the world and is endlessly amusing. I love coming home from work and having him turn and greet me with a huge grin. Then we sit down and he tells me all about his day. I don't understand a single bit of it, nor do I care.

Complete validation provided by a 5-month-old. Gotta love it.

Labels: Bean, monthly recap

Yesterday was my first day back at work and Bean was not impressed. I met him and his mommy at the grocery store immediately after work. When he first saw me, his look was all, "Woman, it is about daggone time! This other lady has been trying to foist off these so-called 'nummies' on me all day. I KNOW nummies, and that bottle crap was not. it."

From 7:15 to 8:15 last night he ate three times. Full feedings each time. This from a boy who typically eats roughly 8 times in an entire day. Oof. My boobs are hoping we settle into a less frantic feeding schedule soon.

Labels: Bean

There was a line from either "Look Who's Talking" or its sequel where John Travolta and the baby are looking at a woman with big bazoombas. John asks, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" and the baby says, "Yeah, LUNCH!" Babies see the world through different eyes.

According to Bean, there are a few changes that I should make to my body to be more accommodating. With the following changes I may look silly, but Bean's life would be made a whole lot easier. (At least, that's what I'm lead to believe, given the frequency with which he makes the requests.)

• LASIK surgery - So he won't have to keep taking my pesky glasses off. Who knew they got in his way so much?


• Lip plates - I have tiny lips, which Bean does his best to make bigger through pulling. I don't know that I'll ever hit this kind of stretch, but that won't be for a lack of trying on his part.


• Stretched earlobes - Ditto.


• No nipples - While this may hinder his food delivery, I am guessing from the yanking and biting that this is his intention.


• Saggy boobs - Ditto.

To sum up, I'd have boobs, lips and ears all dragging on the ground, but my eyesight would be perfect! Sexxxxy....

Labels: Bean

"If you must take my picture, fine, but no autographs!"

Labels: Bean

Yesterday was a momentous day. At just over 4 months old, our little guy cut his first tooth. He's so good natured, though, that we didn't even suspect it. We just figured that something I had eaten earlier didn't agree with him. Wrong-o, sports fans. That mild fussiness and upset belly were because of the tooth. When you consider that getting teeth in is sort of a series of compound fractures (bony protuberances through skin, right?) it's even more amazing that he's not completely losing it. If roles were reversed, I doubt I'd be as easy going. Of course, the fact that we're dosing him heavily with these natural teething tablets probably doesn't hurt.

Speaking of losing it, I can't wait for this to enter into our breastfeeding routine. (Smell that? That's sarcasm.) Even before teeth, Bean was doing the suck-chomp-yank thing on my nipples, so I can only imagine how much fun that will be with sharp baby teeth in the mix. I think I'm going to begin with this bit of advice from Dr. Sears: "As soon as you feel him begin to bite, draw him in very close to your breast, covering his nose in the process, so that he'll have to stop biting to be able to open his mouth and breathe."

Spare the bod, smother the child - isn't that how the saying goes?

Labels: Bean

Most of Bean's advances come quickly. Others are more slowly improved upon. Take, for example, going to sleep. Without being all hippy dippy about it, we tend to fall in line with attachment parenting. (It's more because I'm loathe to put him down than anything else. Plus, a sleeping baby is a really cute thing to (be)hold.) As such, Bean falls asleep in our arms probably 80% of the time. However, working from home means that you have to actually do work. On the computer. Over top a sleeping Bean. Yes, I love my chiropractor, but no, I don't think seeing him weekly is the way to go.

All of this is the long way of explaining what we call his nest. We take one of the cushions off the back of the couch, put his nursing pillow in the void, and prop him up. He can sit there and keep himself happy for quite some time. Teething toys are his favorite (and by "teething toys" I mean anything that fits in his mouth), but he's equally entertained by the view through the window or by talking with us. But the best thing about his nest is that he now falls asleep there. On his own. Nice, long naps without the requirement of Mama's lap. Ahhhh...

Labels: Bean

They say a baby develops more rapidly in the first year of life than they ever will. I totally get it. I do these recaps monthly, but I swear Bean is learning new stuff daily. It's an amazing thing to watch a kid's brain at work. And it's fast. When he figures something out, it's almost like you can see the tiny cogs shift into place and then he's off to the races with that new skill.

This past month it's his feet. Bean is absolutely entranced by them. (And who can blame him? They are the cutest piggies I've ever seen!) Every second he can, he's grabbing them, talking to them, studying them... The other night, I changed his diaper in the wee hours (ha! "wee" hours... diaper change... I kill me) and he wasn't even awake, but as soon as his feet were freed from his PJs, *pop!* up they went into his hands. Same m.o. while having tummy time. The rolling over that was beginning last month is now just a means of getting to his feet. It goes something like this:

• On tummy - squirm, stick butt up in air, push legs in semi-crawling pattern (which is another new skill this month)


• Get bored and rest


• Decide that you haven't seen feet in more than a minute


• Roooolllllll over


• Land on back


• *POP!* feet in hands

It's quite charming. It also means that socks don't stand a chance.

Labels: Bean, monthly recap

Bean was snoozing in the wrap today. In the not-too-distant past, he was just a tiny thing, grunting away in his sleep. Fast forward to now and his grunting has become full on snoring.


I feel for his future bed partners...

Labels: Bean

Anyone with kids will tell you how quickly time flies. I am here to tell you that is no joke. Looking at Bean as a newborn versus him now is a wonder. He's twice as big, but I never saw him grow. Before you go saying I'm crazy (which I am, but that's not the point), think about a clock. Provided your clock has a decent set of inner workings, you can't really see the minute hand move. The movements only register if you have a jump or (forgive the pun) time-lapse shots. Putting up images this past week as your voting bribe has been a little like that.

It's hard for me to believe that this blog began 100 posts ago (whoo - milestone!) and the little guy above is the same one who has these nudie chubbins now. The newborn cries are now squeals of delight. The feet pulled up instinctively are now grabbed purposefully. And the amount of love I felt when he was born has magnified each and every day. If I could bottle up this time... well, that would just make me a chronic huffer later.

(Oh, and those diapers above? Size one and roomy. Now size three are looking a bit snug.)

Labels: Bean