Snowbound Herpetologist

Maya is such a big girl!  She's learning to read, can do simple addition, and is quite the social butterfly. I don't have a lot of time to write this, so it's going to be really short, but I wanted something here - with photos - to mark the occasion :) Maya's favorite things (as she identified them while I wrote this): - watching trailers on youtube - her friends Iris and Jamie - all pets - play dress up at school - fav food: PB&J - fav color: pink and yellow and purple - fav holiday: Halloween and Christmas - fav bird: meadowlark Things Maya doesn't like: - being bored - talking to people she doesn't know (sometimes, like the doctor when she asks if Maya knows her last name even though we PRACTICED so that she would feel comfortable ::eye roll emoticon::) - Annika slobbering on her toys - least favorite food: things that are spicy, squash ravioli - least fav bird: house sparrow (good girl :)) At her school party, December 19th!

I thought for a long time about whether or not to post this, but I decided that if I don't, I won't remember - or I'll minimize - things when babyhood is all a distant memory.  This is what it looks like to solo parent, people, and it isn't very pretty!  I also wrote it a few days ago, and Annika's slept better since (although not in her crib!), so my outlook is more rosy :)  If you are worried about us, rest assured that we are fine! Husband's trip to Peru has been ill-timed in terms of coinciding with Annika's discovery of separation anxiety.  The past week especially, she screams like the wolves have come unless she is directly in contact with my body - whether it's day or night, if we are both in same place at the same time, there's either panicked screaming or I am carrying the baby.  Independent sleep is limited to about 20 minutes (if I'm lucky) per day, and then she wakes me up all night long.  If I spend too much time thinking about ho

From the pediatrician this morning: 22lbs 1oz (10 kilos!!! - plus, final confirmation that my home scale overestimates weight by 1-1.5lbs) and 29.75 inches long! My parents successfully left this morning to head back to California - it was a FANTASTIC visit (and SO helpful!!), and we're sure going to miss them! Some recent photos: She's still not thrilled with the car seat - and she's outgrowing it this month!  I bought a new one that arrives tomorrow.... Maya's written language is (literally, ha) exploding! I had to set up a "puke pad" in my bed this week - awesome.

Two things that make me marvel about this video (other than the INCREDIBLE fact that she's standing pretty much unaided): how tired I look (I mean, seriously  - I actually think the level of dark circles makes me look kind of ill), and my super funny postpartum regrowth of hair :)  It comes in as this shockingly weird fringe around my entire hairline - it's about 2-3 inches long right now, which is the peak of awkwardness :)  This happened with Maya, too!

Happy 3/4 birthday, Annika!  This month, she has perfected both crawling and pulling to stand - both *much* earlier than Maya did!!  We finally have our first sign, which (most surprisingly!!!) is "more."  She still can't point to any person or body part on command (i.e., she has no idea what "mama" means), but she somehow understands the abstract concept of "more?"  How is that even possible???  So clearly, we have a ways to go before we have any real communication, but maybe this next month will see some exciting progress (because you know moms always worry until the skills finally show up!) Annika has also started playing games, including her own version of peek-a-boo where she hides her face and waits for us to say "Where's Annika?"  Then she pops us, we give the obligatory excited "peek-a-boo!" and she dissolves in a sea of giggles.  She also loves to roughhouse with Maya, which causes me a lot of anxiety as well since th

That's right, folks, I'm solo parenting for a while!  I've been on my own since Tuesday, and so far, things have gone pretty well.  I was tired today because the baby slept like crap last night, which meant my motivation was low for cleaning the entire house in preparation for my parents' arrival on Monday - but on balance, we look pretty good!  I met all my work obligations this week, kids had a good week at school (and we were even arriving on time by Friday!), and swimming lessons went well today despite a torrential downpour.  During the bit of time we have right before bed, I'm even trying to teach Maya to read!  I bought most of the girls' Christmas and birthday presents, and on Wednesday, I even had both girls asleep in their own beds (with the dishes done!) by 8pm.  Super mom alert!!! :) Anyway, Annika cut her third tooth yesterday and is getting very good at pulling to a standing position.  Her other trick is that she's definitely figured out what

The baby is now proficiently crawling!  This is excellent (and earlier than Maya), but it also means that my baby-proofing hell is now a reality.  Baby-proofing with a pre-schooler around, especially in the North Country autumn with its never-ending supply of fallen leaves, is exhausting.  There is always, ALWAYS, shit on the floor that the baby can get.  I'm trying to think back to what these months were like with Maya, and I have no recollection of it being this stressful.  To the best of my recollection, we didn't even have a gate on the stairwell going upstairs until after she could climb the stairs (Annika's not there yet, by the way).  Did I not worry about my office/the plants/cupboards/trash/toilets/cat toys in the same way?  I mean, yes, now I have all of Maya's tiny-pieced toys to worry about as well, but damn, the rest of the stuff is all stressful too. In any case, Annika no longer remains where you leave her (EVER), which will be interesting over the next

Baby boo is sooooo old!!  I don't have time to write much, but everything is going well here.  Annika is pointing, waving, and making lots of sounds (although we don't have words quite yet).  She's very, very close to crawling (she can move around a lot, but I would not call her truly crawling yet), so we've put the downstairs baby gate back up.  She's eating solids like a champ, and reliably takes like twice as much milk at daycare as Maya took at this age (yay!).  This doesn't mean that she sleeps any better or nurses less at night, but hey, can't win 'em all :) Mostly I'm just going to post some photos here - my parents are coming in a few weeks for Thanksgiving while husband does another field season in Peru, so hopefully I have time to post more then (likes and dislikes, general observations, etc.).  It's a bummer that I don't have as much time for blogging with Annika as I did with Maya, but ponder this for a sec - Maya was JUST NOW s

Well, yes, I do realize that it's already the second week of October, and I haven't written Annika's 7 month update.  Things are just so busy!  I know that sounds cliche, but seriously - as a pre-tenure professor who is also the mom of two kids with one a baby, I literally start running the second I wake up and don't stop until the second I go to bed (and then I nurse all night long).  I've never worked so hard in my life.  However, I've also never been so balanced in my life, so there's that.... At seven months, Annika and I have so much fun together.  We go most of every day with zero tears, except when I have to wipe her face.  She's completely mastered sitting, and our next adventure is crawling.  She can move quite far with scooting, and she's in the lean-and-rock phase, so crawling is definitely on the horizon somewhere.  She has her two bottom central incisors, which are super cute when she smiles.  She's wearing robeez-type shoes, her h

What a milestone!  We have finally reached six months - the euphoric point at which my burden of baby feeding drops tremendously with the introduction of solids.  We are entering the glorious era of “dual fuel,” in which I don’t have to worry about always making sure husband knows which bottle in the fridge is the next for consumption - and bribing him to deal with the trauma of trying to get Annika to take it - before I take ANY time at all for myself.  But now - baby’s hungry and Mama’s not around?  Mash that baby some banana and call it good! Part of why nursing for the first six months is so exhausting for me is the mental weight of knowing that baby nutrition is 100% my responsibility - ergo, if she doesn’t gain weight, it’s my fault.  While that’s of course not true, it’s how I end up feeling, and the responsibility always feels very heavy to me - I really have to be on my game, and I don’t get any breaks EVER.  Even if I’m not nursing, I’m managing pumping, so it’s not a break