This Time, Last Year

This time, last year...

It's my 33rd birthday today (man I'm getting old!) and I couldn't help but reflect what I was up to this time last year.  I was just entering my 3rd trimester, battling gestational diabetes, living through a major house remodel pregnant and with a toddler, and anxiously awaiting to meet baby Mateo face-to-face.

This year, I've gotten to study my little dimpled-wonder's face for 9 months already.  Diego has proven to be a caring older brother, and we're done with our house remodel!  I am living about as normal and happy life with my two kids as I could imagine.  Of course, there are typical issues like "The Terrible Twos" and "9-Month Old baby Separation Anxiety" that stress me out from time to time, but that won't stop me from celebrating today. 

This year, gestational diabetes-free, I can eat my birthday (cup)cake "con gusto"!  Although - gestational diabetes didn't really stop me last year either. Ha!

Ready to celebrate again! - Shirley

Dumb and Dumberer

Maybe because I recently watched and became fascinated by National Geographic's "Amish: Out of Order", but....

Doesn't Mateo need a haircut?  He's looking pretty Amish in this photo...

But I don't know how to say "no" to my Father inlaw who offered to cut his hair.  Especially after he did THIS to my little D.

Dumb and Dumber? Anyone? - Shirley

Crawling

I will mark September 17th as the official day that Mateo started crawling!  He was just 5 days into his 10th month.  He was sort of on his way to crawling days before:  he would take two tiny steps and then plop down like a plank.  Before that even, at his 9-month check in I asked his pediatrician when she thought he would crawl, judging by what she saw.

"Within a month, if not, call me!" she said.

I'm so glad I didn't have to call her.  My co-worker has the same pediatrician and was eventually prescribed with baby physical therapy to help the baby start crawling.  Could you imagine?  One day I'm off to send Diego to speech therapy, and the next day I'm off to send Mateo to physical therapy...  How stressful!  And yet, it's just the beginning.  It's what I signed up for with two kids.

For now we're all just enjoying Mateo's new-found mobility, and trying to avoid trips to the hospital!

-Shirley

Domino Effect

Mateo caught the stomach flu due to some random thing he put in his mouth and then "graciously" extended his stomach flu gift to Diego and then finally to me.  Mateo has suddenly decided that he hates his pacifier and refuses to use it, and yet he still puts anything in his mouth:  enter endless germs and viruses.  

I stayed home on Friday with the bug.  It was so helpful to have my mother inlaw home to care for Mateo while I still found it impossible to get out of bed.

I thought Diego would get bored and wander out of my bedroom and into the living room where he could at least watch TV.  But my little dude stayed close by me and I got to snuggle with a pair of big eyes and a set of squishy toes.  Although I missed my usual Fast Food Friday, it was still nice to spend the day puking bonding with my son....

Back among the living - Shirley

Armed and Dangerous

The other day my little and only sister came over and confided in me that she has finally decided to join the TTC world and will try to make me an aunt.  I tried my best to stay calm, but deep down inside a parade began with trumpets blaring.  Amid our detailed discussions over daunting TTC acronyms like "TTC" "BD" "2WW" "DPO", etc.  I couldn't contain myself and blurted out,

"I'm so excited that I'm finally going to have a niece!!!!"

"What if it's a nephew?" she asked.

At that moment I caught Diego as he ran by the couch, scooped him into my arms and then proceeded to build two pigtails out of his hair.

"You will give me a niece, or the kid gets it!"  I threatened.  No pressure!

Armed (with an elastic band) and dangerous - Shirley

Dimples

A few weeks ago I read this post from one of my favorite bloggers.  She took the words right out of my mouth.  Well - no, she wrote it better than I ever would have.  That's why she's so awesome.

I gave birth to a baby with dimples.... F-'n A! - Shirley

No Excuses

I've been trying to get rid of every excuse not to start up my stair exercise routine at work again.  I used to religiously walk up and down 9 or 13 flights of stairs sometimes twice a day.  Then I got preggers.  I kept it up for awhile, but it was tough with the extra weight.

Since then I promised myself that when Mateo starts crawling, I would start to get serious about exersize again.  I don't know why I chose a Mateo milestone, I guess I felt like he'd be less needy when he crawls.  He's almost reached that milestone, so I've been trying to prepare for my personal fitness goals.  

So one of my excuses was that I didn't have a comfortable pair of flat shoes to wear that would also go nicely with my work outfits.  Enter my new sketcher's Bobs that I got in the mail yesterday!  Awesome!  Now I don't have an excuse.  I came into work this morning with my new shoes in hand, new attitude, and I scheduled my stair climb on calendar for every day at 2pm.

But then the fire alarm went off around 10am this morning.  So I was forced to take the stairs down, and like a good girl I took them back up after the drill was over since I had already gone down them.  Problem is, my Bobs were upstairs waiting for me in my desk.

Sorry Bobs, our plans were foiled today and tomorrow I have to train a class for the whole day, so I guess I will see you on Friday; unless I work from home on Friday because of my inlaws.

Ugh!  I guess the excuses continue....

No excuses? - Shirley

Don't wait till the river runs dry

You probably saw it coming a mile away like a train crash.  I, on the other hand was so delusional, thinking I could actually continue to keep things up.  It's now with mixed emotions that I'll report to you that it's been a few weeks since I gave up pumping.

You know I've been experiencing my share of struggles, and it got to the point where it just wasn't worth it anymore.  I'd pump all day and MAYBE collect 3 ozs.  That's a light snack for Mateo - no that's not even a snack it's more like a condiment.  Would you like some ketchup with that hot dog?  Dressing with that salad?  Milk with that formula?  Condiments.  I was producing condiments.

I made it 8 1/2 months pumping/nursing and basically just petered out.  And when I decided to stop, I only pumped one more time after a full day of not pumping and barely got an ounce.  That's when I went cold turkey.  There was no pain, swelling, or leaking after that.  I had listened to my body.  It was time, and my brain was finally ready to accept that fact.  I feel good knowing that I gave it all my body could take, and I feel good that I listened to my body once it was time to stop.  But mostly, I feel a sense of relief that I don't need to pump anymore.  I still have the calendared pump time at work and feel like I suddenly have extra time when the calendar reminders pop up.

All in all - it was a good run.  And Mateo?  He's too busy exposing his taste buds to new foods to even notice.  He's a vacuum with his 6 teeth now!  I think he's getting ready for Thanksgiving.  This solids-eating baby has goals, and milk is no longer one of them!  Mateo - Would you like some formula with that food?  Yes...... yes he would.

Dumped the Pump - Shirley

Get out of Jail Free!

Years ago, when my inlaws first came to visit us from Peru, I must admit that I became a little bit possessive of my kitchen (since my mother inlaw basically took it over).  I remember coming home from work the first day and seeing all my pots and pans being used by -shame - another woman!  She'd wake up at the crack of dawn to start preparing for dinner while she also worked on breakfast and lunch.

This woman is a cooking machine!  She even makes juice.  I'm not talking with a juicer.  She boils fruits 'n stuff and cools the resulting water with a little sugar, calling it juice.  You guys might be laughing, because well - maybe that's what juice is.  But to me, juice magically appears in the juice aisle at the supermarket or can only be made out of a powder, a blender, or a juicer.

When my stepson first came to live with us after about 10 years of living with my in-laws he asked, "Why don't you just make juice?" when we were running low on juice and writing our shopping list.
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I snarkily laughed in his face and said, "I don't have time for that!"  I mean seriously - I'm a working mom with two kids.  I barely have time to pee on cue, and you want me to make juice???  Yeah right.

Anyway, back to the point.  As soon as I got over my kitchen possessiveness, I entered a dreamworld and wished I could lay in this dream world all my life.  Of the top things I would spend lottery winnings on, a gourmet chef so that I never ever have to cook again ranks high on the list, next to buying a Beverly Hills mansion and world-peace of course!  My mother in-law spoiled me in the kitchen, and it was especially helpful during her last visit while I was exhausted and pregnant with Mateo. 

After I relinquished my kitchen to said "other woman", it's as if I had won the lottery!  This is turning out to be a really long post to tell you that my in laws have come back to stay with us since Sept. 11 for a whole month! 

I won the lottery for a month again!  Yippee!  When I get home around 6 pm each work day, I won't have to worry about spending another hour cooking!  What's more - she's going to be a major help to me with Mateo, who at 9 months is showing the classic signs of separation anxiety (he often screams if I'm not holding him) and it's stressing me out since Hubby barely holds him (he has appointed himself to look after Diego, which according to him is harder - yeah right!).  I know that typically in laws are hard to get a long with, but in the case of my mother inlaw, I'm really anticipated her arrival.  It's like I got the Get Out of Jail Free Card for a month on being a mom!  Or kinda like the Beverly Hills Nannies show on ABC Family that I'm obsessed with lately, where I'll be a Bev Hills mom whose Nanny does all the work while I sit on my butt and do nothing.  (OK - not nothing but with everything I do today, it will sure feel like it).  Don't get me wrong, I'm not turfing off my responsibilities as a mom, but any mom would tell you:  When help is being offered, never pass it up!

You guys!  I hope I don't eat my words, but this is going to be AWESOME!

-Shirley (Beverly Hills Mom in Training)

9 Months!

It feels like such a long time, and in reality 9 months is.  I feel like Tater's been in our lives forever and yet not long enough.  At this 9 month mark, he's been "out" just as long as he was "in"! 

This month, Tater has given me a few nights where he went to bed around 9pm and didn't fully wake up until 5:00 am.  Most nights however, still require me to get up somewhere around the 2am hour to march into the nursery and ease the pacifier back into his mouth.

Other than that it's been a hard month for me because Tater has begun a separation anxiety stage directed towards only me.  Everything is fine and dandy until I waltz into the room.  Cue the crying and wanting to be held by Mama! It's draining on me because he not only wants to be held all the time, but he also doesn't like when I'm holding him while sitting down.  I must be standing up.  So tiring! (if you're wondering why I've been blog absent for the past couple of weeks, this is partly why)  As a result, I'm really starting to get anxious about him starting to crawl.  I think it will do us both some good once he gets a little mobile and independent.  At 9 months, he is so close but still not crawling.  Diego had already begun to crawl at 8 1/2 months.

OTHER TATER TIDBITS

• 23 lbs!
• 22-inches!
• He pulls himself up on the crib when he really wants out
• I believe I used the term "vaccuum" when his doctor asked me to describe his eating habits.  Mateo recently started eating meats in his purees and his doc suggested more finger foods now
• He has about 5 teeth now; aside from his bottom "rabbit teeth", the latest are the top front teeth including his 'vampire fangs' just in time for Halloween!
• He thinks he can walk by himself.  Sometimes when holding him on the floor, he just goes for it.  I think his walker has confused him.
• Oh the walker....  Most of the time he'll fight you when you try to put him in it, because he can walk by himself, don't you know?
• Likewise, he'll fight you if you try to sit him on the floor.  He'll turn into a stone log and won't allow you to bend him in the sitting position.  The kid's got strength!  He only wants to be held!

MAMA'S TIDBITS

• I gave up on pumping.  I listened to my body.  It was just time to.  More details coming soon.
• Since I'm not really spending time pumping, I've gotten back into manicuring my nails again.  :)
• Instead of doing my nails, I should really run on the treadmill that we finally setup in our garage.  I need to lose these last couple of "Tater" pounds!
• Not a fan of my hair right now.  It's embarrassingly thin and I've got a lot of re-growth that's in an awkward in-between stage and bobby pins are NOT really helping! 
• Just overall exhausted due to Mateo's recent separation anxiety.

That's a wrap! - Shirley