Snowbound Herpetologist

It turns out that one of Maya’s daycare providers, Roz, is also a midwife.  She, another mom, and I had a long conversation a couple weeks ago upon afternoon baby pickup about all of our respective labors.  During the conversation, it was clear that I’ve spent this whole year - and it’s taken a whole year - processing my birth experience and truly coming to a place of peace about it.  In any case, that’s when I decided that I really should do a “Year in review” post on it, even though at least some of you (especially husband) must feel like it’s definitely been beaten to death.  But I have arrived in my happy place of tranquility and I want to share! It’s been a fun week in our household, reliving all the memories associated with last Christmas - or rather, the lack of memories since most of it is a major blur in my mind.  That’s probably the part that I’m most surprised about, that I don’t remember so much of it.  After I post this entry, I’m going to post husband’s version of the

I'm about to update Maya's  growth charts - 22lbs 10oz and 31.5 inches long at the pediatrician this morning!  She didn't quite manage to triple her birth weight (8lbs), but she did grow over 11 inches in a year.  As a little moment of "awwww….," here's a comparison photo set of Maya at Christmas 2013 and Christmas 2014 :)

This happened between when I posted yesterday and this morning.  She wouldn't do it for the camera, but she's got the sign down, too.

Happy, happy first birthday, Maya!  Although we've been celebrating for like a week, you are now *officially* one!  Mama couldn't be more proud of you! (I will try to come back and edit this post with some photos of her bonus birthday "parties" - one at daycare, involving only punch balloons and dress-up clothes, and one here at Grandma and Grandpa's house involving cake and presents!  We are still at the in-laws now though, and I am sneaking time just to get this written, so hopefully I can add photos when we get back home?) One-year-old Maya continues to surprise us with her new skills.  She's been "able" to walk unassisted since Thanksgiving, but she is still very unsteady on her feet and continues to rely on crawling for her main mode of transportation.  Numerous times, we've seen her stand up in the middle of a room and walk more than 10 steps unassisted, but it never sticks - she just seems to prefer crawling.  So crawling it is! :) A

Husband's sister is getting married this coming Saturday (the day after Maya's real birthday), which means that Friday will be a bit filled with things that are…well, not Maya's favorites (a 5 hour car ride, waiting for a late rehearsal dinner while being well-behaved, etc.).  We are super excited about the wedding, so we just decided to celebrate Maya's birthday this past weekend instead, with some fun family activities! Highlights include: jam sesh with Dada (lots of dancing included!), swimming lessons (always a favorite), duck pond trip to visit Mr. Muskrat, our local hands-on science museum (+ live raptors!!!), and, of course, PRESENTS AND CUPCAKES. Happy early birthday, baby boo!

Like I did for pregnancy, I am taking Maya’s upcoming first birthday as an opportunity to record some of my thoughts about her first year all in one place.   I’m not sure how many topics I’ll get to, but I’ve currently planned three posts: this one about one year of baby feeding, one about perspectives on labor/delivery/recovery, and one about motherhood. I think that this post’s topic is probably the most important one for me to write, mainly because I didn’t have a textbook experience with breastfeeding.  Therefore, I think it’s beneficial to have that story out there so that other women 1) are prepared if they have a similar “abnormal” experience, and 2) can know that it is possible to continue nursing in the face of challenges.  This post is an accumulation of the things I’ve learned over the last year and what I wish I’d been able to tell myself before I started breastfeeding so I could have adjusted my expectations accordingly. To any regular readers of my blog, it’s no su