The Cord

When Qori was a fresh new puppy, my sister and I used to joke around that he had an invisible umbilical cord attached to me.  We'd go out to the dog park, and there was only a certain number of feet he would venture away before he came bouncing back to me.  It was very handy.

Mateo's invisible umbilical cord was much, much shorter.  In fact he had to have constant skin contact (mano a mano) for the first year.  I noticed that during the latter part of the year, his umbilical cord's length seemed to directly correlate to whether he was walking in a carpeted room or on hardwood flooring (unfortunately, my entire house is hardwood). 

But I gotta tell you guys that last Sunday (at almost 13 months), the umbilical cord reached an ideal elasticity for my taste.  Finally.  Before you know it, I had not only taken down Christmas in our house, but I also ORGANIZED it for storage.  All this while Mateo was wide awake and calmly hanging out not needing my contact at every moment!  A week ago this would've been unheard of.  The closest I would've been able to get to taking down Christmas was grabbing a snowflake ornament out of Mateo's mouth as he tried to eat it. 

I feel strangely free, but not.  After all, I do still have 3 invisible & elastic umbilical cords attached to me. 

Bungee jumping, anyone? - Shirley

10 Months!

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Do you hear that?  

No?

It's the sound of SILENCE between the hours of 9 pm-5am in our household again!  Hooray!  It took 10 months, but it finally arrived.  I made it through in one piece, People!!!!  Where is my "I SURVIVED A SLEEPLESS BABY AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS T-SHIRT" -t-shirt?

Other Tater Tidbits:

• It only got worse before it got better on sleeping through the night.  I think you were teething because it lasted about a week, and now suddenly you're sleeping well.
• When you DO wake up at 5am, Mama gives you a 6 oz bottle and you FALL BACK ASLEEP until about 7:30.  You mean I actually have TIME to get ready in the morning too????  I LOVE you, Tater!
• You learned to crawl 5 days into your 10th month!  And now you've perfected crawling on the slippery hardwood floors, but you STILL HIGHLY PREFER WALKING (with someone's help)
• You rejected your pacifier on Day 1 of your 10th month.  Thank goodness I took this shot before it was too late.
•  You learned to pull yourself up to the standing position on your own. (using various props like chairs and human legs)
• You are more demanding at feeding time.  I've learned that you really, really want finger foods and you will cause a scene if you don't have anything in your hand.  So now I give you a cracker or a piece of bread to munch on while I try to sneak in some spoon feeding in between your snacking.
• Your separation anxiety is still strong and kickin'
• While your brother Diego is going through his terrible twos, you've decided to invent the terrible-tens.  Have you ever met a baby who will throw himself on the ground when he doesn't get what he wants?  Meet Tater!!!

 

Mama's Tidbits

•  Totally failing at my stair exercise at work
• My body is a trained monkey - I still briefly wake up around 2 am.  I need to STOP that madness!
• Although grateful for my inlaws' support, Mateo's separation anxiety still drains me daily.  I can't imagine the zombie that I would be if I didn't have their help.

Bonus Pic - The mustache pacifier gets its last bits of lovin' due to Diego's curiosity.

-Shirley

I Whip My Hair Back and Forth

A post that I never got around to publishing...  But right now, in the throws of baby separation anxiety and a smidgen of toddler jealousy, I'm reminded via this post that this motherhood job is so worth it....

That first moment when both my boys kept laughing together in unison at the repeated punchline of my joke.

(And by "punchline" for a 2.5 y/o and 7 mos baby, what I really mean is whipping my hair back and forth like Willow Smith and making a crazy sound with each whip!)

Hearing their synchronized giggles made my everyday motherhood struggles suddenly more rewarding.

"Motherhood is the highest paid job because you're paid in love" (quote seen on Pinterest) - Shirley

Whipping my hair back and forth for the audience of 2