Seven Quick Takes Friday, Vol. 33

I

How do you people live in hot places??? (i.e. hotter than 65F)  And don't say "air conditioning," because that's not an option here and I'm being a wimp and whining about the heat today, and I don't want to hear about magical cold-air machines that don't exist in my state. But really, 85 degrees? How do your brains not melt and run out of your ears? We, well, the baby and I have been dying of sunshine all week; even keeping all the lights off and staying in our darkish basement apartment doesn't really make it bearable. And what do you wear? I don't think I could be a functional human being anywhere that it stayed this hot or hotter all summer... Matt doesn't exactly understand, possibly because he grew up in Pennsylvania, or possibly because he is already too miserable from the clouds of birch pollen floating around. He does agree that it's hot, though... while comparing his wife's reaction to that of a beached jellyfish. :-)

II

I have no idea what we are eating for dinner tonight, because anything that requires turning on the stove or oven isn't happening, and anything that requires me to stand outside in the hot hot hot hot hot sunshine at the hot hot hot hot hot grill isn't happening either. And we are out of lettuce, so salad isn't an option. PB&J sandwiches? Maybe just ice cream.

III

I should add that, despite not understanding my heat-induced abject misery, my husband has been very kind and just has not expected too much of me as I've been hiding in the freezer this past week.

IV

Matt was also good enough to take yesterday afternoon off work to bring me to the hospital for my MRI, and entertain the baby in the waiting room for the two hours I was in. Little Bear did pretty well, from what I hear, only getting fussy in the last fifteen minutes. My MRI went fine, I guess... I didn't expect everything to take so long, definitely didn't expect to have a three-inch-long needle stuck into me (delivering the contrast medium), but it wasn't a terrible experience. I didn't time it, but I was in the MRI machine itself for the length of one divine mercy chaplet, one rosary, and a litany of every saint I could think of... which was a lot of them. Hopefully we will have the results early next week, and it will be something easy to fix.

V

Is almost 11 months too young to try to give Little Bear a buzz cut? These curls have to go--he gets so hot when he naps, and people keep telling me how beautiful my little girl is. He strongly dislikes machines that make loud noises: blender, stand mixer, hair dryer... he has started chasing the vacuum, though, so maybe he's getting over it? I don't want to traumatize him by using the clippers on his hair, but I also don't want to try to get it short with scissors and wind up looking like I took a weed whacker to it...

VI

So the plumber finally came Tuesday afternoon to look at the water coming through our ceiling (which started Friday evening), and it turned out that there was no leaking or cracked pipe after all: the seals (I think? some kind of seal or collar) of the toilets in the apartment above us had been installed incorrectly. Fortunately it was clean water coming through! The plumber fixed both of them on Tuesday, and came back Wednesday to replace the one in our bathroom just in case. We haven't seen the watermarks on the ceiling tiles spread at all since then, so hopefully that is resolved!

VII

Remember when I picked up a copy of The No-Cry Sleep Solution back in, what, March? And I read the first chapter and was so happy with it? I haven't picked it up since (are we really surprised?), and now Matt is starting to leave out the word "soon" when he says things like "the baby needs to learn to sleep in his own bed soon." So I guess I will be trying to read some more of that this weekend, in between hiding in the freezer and trying to give my son a non-traumatizing haircut. I know, I know, I'm so ambitious.

Hope you have something more fun than that lined up for this weekend! In your down time, swing over to ConversionDiary.com for more quick takes. (But not while you're hiding in the freezer--the insulated walls are bad with wireless signal.)

Timing

Mealplanning Monday on... Wednesday? Wednesday evening? Sigh...

Monday: cookout (burgers, salad, potato salad, etc)

Tuesday: chef's salads, whole grain baguettes

Wednesday: ginger chicken vegetable stirfry, rice

Thursday: pasta salad with ham and broccoli 

Friday (Visitation BVM): halibut, baked beans, potato salad, green salad

Saturday: something vaguely texmex

Sunday (Corpus Christi): not leftovers

So I'm clearly still fuzzy about what's happening this weekend, but that can be chalked up to my not having been to the grocery store in, what, a week and a half? Trying to avoid burying this month's grocery budget any deeper... I'll have a good long list by Saturday. If anyone has advice on how they stay under (a small!!) budget on groceries each month, I'm all ears; I'm already pretty good about not buying things we don't need, and we eat a lot more canned/frozen meat and produce than fresh, but it's still a rare month that doesn't see us tipping over the limit.

But that wasn't actually the "timing" I was thinking about when I sat down to write: it was today's sleep timing by my dear, adorable, super frustrating son. Oh, the plumber will be here in a half hour? I must go to sleep. On Mama, while nursing, right next to the doorbell. Daddy just got off work? Time for a nap! On Mama, right by the squeaky door. What, Mama and Daddy say it's bedtime? Naw... it's time to crawl all over the bed giggling and clapping for an hour. An hour! While being very cute and happy and all, but really, I wanted to go to sleep. Oh my child...

What I Wore Sunday {16}

Happy Trinity Sunday, and Memorial Day Weekend!

It was good to see the church fairly full this morning; some years, unfortunately, it seems like many people decide that spending Memorial Day Weekend at the lake is more important than attending mass. I appreciated it last year when our pastor made a point of announcing, the Sunday before Memorial Day, that our Sunday obligation is not suspended on long weekends! His homily today was excellent, as usual. He is the chaplain for the local fire station and often covers mass at the Air Force base, so he feels strongly Memorial Day, but he wasn't about to skip preaching about the Trinity for Trinity Sunday, and he managed to tie the two together surprisingly well. After briefly recounting his class on theology of the Trinity in seminary (and how incredibly complex a mystery it is), he drew out one particular facet of the mystery for us: unselfish love. We experience the unselfish love of each Person of the Trinity differently--the Father as He creates and sustains us, the Son as He sacrifices Himself for us, the Spirit as He pours out His gifts upon us. Our men and women in uniform, Father went on to say, also show us this unselfish love in their own unique ways as they put their lives on the line for the sake of their country and for all of us. 

Little Bear is settling into an unfortunate pattern at mass: he stays quiet and well-behaved until the homily, when he starts squirming and fussing and asking to nurse. When he begins to be disruptive I take him out, to the cry room if there is room or outside if it is full, where he promptly becomes happy and denies having asked for food. If I take him back in, he gets mad again; if I don't, he tries to explore. How do you teach a nearly-11-month-old to be quiet in church? (Don't laugh; I know it's kind of an outrageous question, but I have seen other kids his size who sit quietly all the way through. What do those parents know that I don't???)

We are enjoying shockingly gorgeous weather this weekend, with high 70s and low 80s and so, so much sun! Also mosquitos, but they are the big slow ones that come out first, so they aren't too bothersome. Last night we took Little Bear to a nearby restaurant and sat out on their deck overlooking the river, enjoying the wonderful summer-ness while chatting with Matt's friend from work. 

Unfortunately, I'm realizing that my nursing-friendly wardrobe is really limited to winter colors and pieces... as you can see, I was definitely not dressed for summer sun today!

Top: thrifted

Skirt: Walmart

Shoes: Payless

Have a lovely rest of your weekend! Don't forget to stop by Fine Linen and Purple for more What I Wore Sunday. As you celebrate Memorial Day tomorrow, remember all of our servicemen and women and their families, especially those who have given their lives!

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let your perpetual light shine upon them, and may they rest in peace. Amen.

Water

Eight o'clock at night, and Little Bear is edging toward exhausted-meltdown mode. "Have those spots always been there?" my husband asks, looking at the bedroom ceiling. Knots form in my stomach. "No..."

Leaking pipes, water running, wet insulation, waterlogged tiles crumbling around the edges.

The landlord comes to look and calls his plumber, who is (naturally!) an hour and a half away. I juggle the fussy baby, we take turns reading to him, singing, rocking. The landlord makes more calls. They can't get a plumber for anything, not on the Friday night of Memorial Day weekend.

Two neighbors come to look, open up the drop ceiling, plaster all over the bed. Maybe it is the landlord's dishwasher? someone suggests. The baby sobs for bed as men in workboots tramp in and out.

It might be fixed, they think. If the dishwasher doesn't run. At least until Tuesday, it should be fine; here, put these towels in the ceiling. And I'm grateful, truly; praying for no leaks in the night, water dripping on the bed, but grateful for their quick response, the attempted fix.

The room smells strange, musty, but the exhausted child doesn't care: eats quickly, falling right to sleep. We lie wondering, watching dark shadowed tiles, listening for water running. Praying for a peaceful night.

Seven Quick Takes Friday, Vol. 32

I

Summer is very much here, despite the odd snow patches on the north side of the house. We have had high 60s or low 70s every day this week! Gorgeous, if confusing. This is my favorite temperature range; we could go maybe ten degrees warmer, but any hotter than 85F and I am one unhappy person. Is there anywhere that never drops below -20 or gets above 85? Other than heaven, I mean. Because that would be just about perfect.

II

I think I've talked about my chronic joint dislocation before? It's been happening for years, got worse with pregnancy, kind of got better but not really after? Yesterday I saw an orthopedic manipulator, who was thoroughly puzzled and intrigued by the "clunk" (his description) my shoulder makes when it rotates, is concerned that I could have a widespread ligament disorder, and is sending me for an MRI next week. When the radiology receptionist called to set up my appointment, she informed me that breastfeeding mothers need to refrain from nursing their babies for 24 hours after the procedure because the contrast medium they will be injecting into my shoulder is toxic. Cue me panicking. 

III 

Little Bear refuses to drink from bottles, I'm not good at pumping, he thinks cups are for pouring down his front, he only falls asleep while nursing, I can't do this. I spent most of the afternoon alternately worrying and trying to convince myself that we could just put the MRI off until he's weaned, and then Matt got off work and reminded me that any big medical procedures have to be done before July 1, when our insurance' fiscal year starts over and we have to start paying the (high) deductible again. So no, I couldn't put it off; we would just have to manage to get through the wretched 24 hours somehow. Last night, too stressed to sleep, I went online... and found study after study cited by the American Academy of Family Physicians, the College of Family Physicians of Canada, and the American College of Radiology’s Committee on Drugs and Contrast Media, all unequivocally stating that there is no reason for mothers to stop breastfeeding even for a few hours following the procedure. Hurrah!

IV

Emboldened by one relief, I went back to our dear friend Google to look up studies on general anesthesia and breastfeeding, as I'm theoretically getting all four wisdom teeth out next month and the tech there also told me that we couldn't nurse for 24 hours. Surprise, surprise... All recent studies indicate that there is no medical reason to tell mothers to do this! Less than 1% of the anesthetic will be present in my milk following the procedure, and Little Bear will absorb less than 1% of that already minuscule amount from the milk when he eats. I am so glad! I was hesitantly preparing myself to tell the oral surgeon that I didn't want general anesthesia for the procedure, just so that I wouldn't have to stop nursing, but good gracious I was scared to do that!

V

I know that we live in a litigious society and the techs who told their receptionists to tell me I had to stop nursing were probably just trying to protect themselves and the hospital, but really? You can't stay up to date on the current medical advice on a subject that could have a serious negative impact on the lives of your patients?

VI

Sunshine and birdsong and pollen and mosquitos... the weather outside may be delightful, but I still can't open the windows and air out the house because we don't have our screens in to keep out the bugs yet, and the trees are in full pollen production mode. Matt has to encounter enough pollen during the day that I would feel so bad for wantonly filling the apartment with it as well. We are hoping that Little Bear didn't inherit his daddy's allergies, but the two of them have been competing to be the loudest snorer recently, and I can't tell if Little Bear has a cold or is being bothered by the pollen. How do you tell with a kid? I don't have seasonal allergies, so I don't even know what symptoms to be looking for.

VII

To all of the men and women who serve or have served in our armed forces, and to their families, thank you and God bless you for all of your sacrifices! Everyone else: in the fun of the long weekend, keep in mind the reason we observe Memorial Day, and don't forget to incorporate that into your celebrations!

Have a great weekend, and don't forget to swing by ConversionDiary.com for more quick takes!

Evolution of Play

I have to admit, I came into parenthood with a fairly broad preconception of what it was like to watch kids grow up. As the oldest of seven, with pretty sizable gaps between some of the kids, I felt justified in believing that I already had a good handle on how this worked. Older siblings were the key to parental sanity: I was just going to be exhausted and unhappy for the next year or two because I didn't have another kid to help me entertain Little Bear. In the weeks and months that have passed since he was born, well-meaning people have tried to sympathize with the new mom, reassuring me that they too were shocked at how hard it was to be a parent... but that's never been a problem for me, since I expected it to be miserable. Yes, I griped about the pain, the exhaustion, the frustrations... but they definitely weren't surprises. The surprises, for me, were some of the joys: for example, play.

Most people gush about how babies are wonderful and beautiful and perfect and "bundles of joy" and all that, and the cynic in me always said, "yeah, because you get to hand him back to his mom once you've made him cry." Babies were cute, and rocking my baby sisters to sleep was great, and it was fun when they started playing with toys and becoming mobile, but you couldn't fool me--I knew that there was a lot more work involved than play. But what I didn't see before becoming a parent was that all of that work, the physical and emotional investment that we poured into caring for him, created a which affects the way we experience his growth, making it radically different than my experience of my siblings' development.

Today Little Bear had a grand total of a half hour of nap before 3 pm, and somewhere around 1 he was speeding around the apartment on his hands and knees, scattering everything everywhere. I was a few steps behind, picking one thing up as he dumped the next on the floor. Then he stopped, sat up, picked up a dump truck, and began "driving" it back and forth on the floor, saying "Vrrrr." And at that particular moment, even with the stack of magazines and the blocks and the board books that I had just picked up five minutes ago spread out all over the floor again, it was the cutest thing ever. If I had been trying to clean up after a little kid who wasn't my own, would I even have noticed that moment? I don't think so... he got bored and went right back to tearing the house apart again, and I doubt it would have registered as a New Thing and Something He's Never Done Before and So Cute.

I grew up watching and playing with babies and little kids, but Little Bear has made me aware for the first time of the cognitive side of play developing, and it's fascinating. Because I am with him all day, every day, and especially since I don't have anyone else around most of the time to take over the playing with him, I've noticed the little changes as Little Bear has become more actively and intellectually engaged in his play. Today was the first time I saw him associate a sound that he could make with a toy. A few days ago, he realized that it was funny to try to pull his colored stacking discs off their stand faster than his daddy could put them on; yesterday, he learned that he could fling several off at once. Playtime is so much more fun for all of us as he understands more about what is happening, and learns to play with others, interacting instead of just reacting. And watching that happen, noticing little steps forward in his comprehension, is so much more exciting--brings so much more joy--than I would ever have expected.

Octave of Pentecost

Happy Whittuesday! You've probably heard Pentecost referred to as Whitsunday, but did you know that each day this week, since we are in the octave of Whitsunday, is also a "Whit"? This week, like the week after Easter, is a time of continuing our celebration of Pentecost and the beginning of the Church. Because the summer Ember Days fall within the octave of Pentecost, though, this week is also penitential.

Ember days, if you aren't familiar, are sets of three penitential days--Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday--which fall roughly at the beginning of each of the four seasons. They all carry the general intentions of giving thanks for God's gifts of nature and reminding mankind to use these gifts wisely and with moderation, but each set of ember days also has unique purposes: With the summer ember days, we pray for a fruitful growing season and bountiful harvest. They aren't enforced by universal Church law as days of fast and half-abstinence (meat at one meal only) anymore, but it's still not a bad idea to find some way to observe them at home; prayer, fasting, and good works certainly don't become less beneficial to our souls just because they aren't required!

I'm glad I remembered what week it was before planning out this week's menu! For the record, I actually finished this on Sunday, but somehow didn't get around to posting until today.

Pentecost Sunday: pasta amatriciana, green salad

Whitmonday: chipotle chicken soft tacos

Whittuesday: pork kebabs with grilled peppers and onions, sesame rice

Whitwednesday: Spanish shrimp and rice, green salad

Whitthursday: dinner with my family

Whitfriday: vegetable pizza

Whitsaturday: plans with friends