what's in a name?

I'm a little surprised no one has asked about the new name for this blog, and I debated keeping quiet, letting all of you (and Google) solve it on your own. Here's a hint: It was my second choice. Somebody beat me to "Zooglobble".

Blame it on Oliver.

what's wrong with this picture

What's wrong is I am in Pittsburgh. I think I hate you all. No, not all of you. Just those of you going to Chicago today. See, I want to go to Chicago today. Instead, I get to welcome CD home from Chicago. And I foolishly taught Oliver the correct answer to "Where Daddy go?" so I have had to listen to him say "Chicago" over and over and over all week. SOMEDAY I really will get to go. Be nice to CD if you run into him at O'Hare. I don't want him arriving home grumpy because he got trampled by tons of incredibly cool women bloggers. I'll be grumpy enough for both of us, thank you.

Yesterday Eleanor was having some trouble falling asleep for a nap. She was unusually fussy and I reached the end of my bag of soothing, nap inducing tricks. Save one. I realized CD's conference sessions were being streamed (audio only) to the 'net. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I fired it up. She settled down as soon as he started yacking (on and on about minutiae -- it's what they do at those thrice-annual geekfests). She was asleep in a few minutes. It was like magic.

More things to complain about:
1. My copy of the new Harry Potter book from amazon.co.uk has not arrived yet. You do know they change the words for American kids, right? British editions are as the author intended. We haven't made it to the movie either.
2. My efforts to remove all the wallpaper from our tiny half bath look meager, despite hours spent on it. Two layers of paper, both with backing, all coming off in tiny. little. pieces. Do not, I repeat, do not EVER put wallpaper on your walls.
3. My house still hasn't sold.
4. I still don't have a job (though things are looking up a bit in that area - more soon, I hope)
5. We still aren't sure if we can go away in a couple of weeks. And JetBlue is raising their fares daily.
6. House is not ready for the British invasion, aka the arrival of CD's brother, his wife, and two teenage daughters. We have mostly figured out where we are going to put everyone but I had hoped to have the basement room cleared and fit for habitation. We'll see if I get all that done by next Friday.
7. Oliver's favorite teacher has decided to leave his school. She's on vacation this week. She comes back for next Tuesday, and that's her last day. She is staying in the area and is willing to babysit, which is nice, but he's going to be very sad when he finds out she isn't going to be one of his teachers anymore. Of course, if I don't get a job and he doesn't get to go to school at all as of August 20, we're all going to be much, much sadder.

most of the time I really like Pittsburgh

Then I read crap like this in Letters to the Editor in the Post-Gazette (July 14, 2007):

Gov. Ed Rendell signed a law making it legal to breast-feed in public ("New Pa. Law Allows Breast-feeding in Public," July 9)?

What about the people who don't want to see this? I, for one, do not want to be walking through a mall only to see mothers breast-feeding their children. One would think the mothers would have enough respect for those around them not to do this in public. Don't they think about how uncomfortable this might make people around them?

These mothers showed with their rally at a mall that they do not care about the rights of those around them, only of their right to do as they please because they have children. I'm not sure what Sen. Connie Williams, D-Montgomery, is referring to when she calls the bill "so commonsensical" -- she must be referring to the common sense parents have that makes them think they are better than the rest of us. It was their choice to have children; it's my choice not to care.

BLAIR STACKHOUSE
Uptown

---

Breastfeeding is disrespectful? If I breastfeed I think I'm better than someone else? Feeding my hungry child is "doing as I please"? Sometimes I just don't understand how their brains work.

this moment brought to you courtesy of Elmo

We had our first successful potty experience tonight. After attempts the last two nights that both ended in pee all over me and the floor, I finally convinced Oliver that the splash guard on his potty seat is not evil after all.

There will no doubt be bumps in the road, but we're on our way.

"You'll do it, you'll use the po-tty!"

they may look cute...

But don't let appearances fool you. I should know by now that if I can't remember the last time Eleanor pooped I should be wearing a poncho made from a garbage bag (the poor man's hazmat suit). And she should probably spend the day in no more than 5 feet from the bathtub. Alas, mommy brain was at work today and I forgot these important directives.

In the middle of dinner Eleanor got very, very fussy. I looked to see what the problem was and I saw poop. In. Her. Armpit. I'm not sure how CD moved her from the carseat to the bouncy seat without noticing that her clothes were poopy, as well as the carseat.... but nevermind. I took her to the bathtub, getting poop all over my shirt and nearly everything else in our path. All aforementioned poopy items, including the bouncy seat cover and carseat liner, went into the wash. After coating everything with copious amounts of my favorite stain remover, I decided to give a detergent sample I got in the mail a chance to work its magic. And magic it seems to be. Tide, I think I love you (even though you used to give me hives).

To cap off a perfect night, Oliver sat on the potty and peed. All over me. If he would let me leave the splash guard on the potty seat, we would have had our first SUCCESSFUL POTTY EXPERIENCE. That made two wardrobe changes in about an hour. At least I managed to get through dinner cleanup unscathed.

In other news, Eleanor had her three-month shots today. She weighed in at over 15 pounds, but that was before the TAE.

we're WAIT-ing!!

Yet again I'm going to date myself but do you remember that old ad for the Kissimmee area of Florida? The one with the annoying little brat that says, "We're waiting" in her most annoying of little brat voices? The one that surprisingly has not shown up on YouTube (at least I couldn't find it) so I can't remind you and annoy you all at once. Well, that's what we're doing. Waiting for news on my niece Jami's baby.

Her water broke yesterday morning but contractions stalled. She went to the hospital a little after midnight but still no baby. Look here, little Braydon, as you will soon discover, we are not a patient lot and we're WAIT-ing!!!!

Update: Braydon Greg arrived at 2:21pm, weighing in at 8 pounds, 12 ounces and measuring 21 inches long. Rumors of weights north of 9 pounds were somewhat exaggerated.

it's the shiniest of the shiny things

When last we met our intrepid blogger was doing a bit of virtual drooling over the iPhone. Virtual no more. I've spent the last not quite three days drooling on it for real. Even though I can't send mail to anyone but CD yet (he is working on that - the perils of having your own mail server) it's still the greatest thing since sliced bread and frankly, it blows sliced bread completely out of the water.

Procurement and setup were dead easy. I walked into my local Apple store Sunday afternoon and walked out with iPhone about 10 minutes later. Once we got home, after a detour to Pottery Barn (white sale! rugs! bathroom light fixtures!), setup took maybe 5 minutes.

A small shortcoming, hopefully short-lived, is that I can't view all of Oliver's favorite videos on YouTube. A small subset of YouTube videos are currently available for iPhone. It drove me crazy for an hour until I saw the report on the Apple support boards. I was doing YouTube searches on my MacBook and on my iPhone and the results were not the same. I thought I was losing my mind. I will be very happy when the full compliment of Thomas the Tank Engine and Sesame Street videos (meaning: those that are on my Oliver's Favorites playlist) are available.

Otherwise, it's dreamy.

We figured out how to sync my Mulberry calendars. It takes a few more steps than I would like but that's a very small price to pay to have my calendar with me. It's going to take me a while to get my contacts list together since I have lots of information in far too many places, but that's a problem I can solve (just as soon as we get about 28 hours in a day). Not iPhone's fault.

Today's mission is to see if my iTrip will work with iPhone. iHope.

Update: No go on the iTrip, at least according to the Griffin website. I may try it anyway. And another small annoyance...ringtones. I can't add any. I've been forced to resort to "barking" for calls from CD. I used to have either the Liberty Bell March, which you will recognize as the Monty Python music, or God Save the Queen. I trust this will be fixed with an update soon.

the greatest thing since sliced bread?

So, yeah, the iPhone. (click that link -- you will be surprised -- yum!) No, I'm not willing to stand in line for one but I think one will find it's way to me kind of soonish. A few weeks ago I dropped my cell phone three or so times too many. It started falling apart. In my hand. Little pieces breaking off. The top half hanging on to the bottom by less than a thread. I called my oh-so-much-less-than-fabulous provider, the yellow and black one, to discuss my options. My contract has been up for ages and I have loathed them for a lot longer. The ensuing customer service "experience" solidified my desire to ditch them.

In a nutshell, they told me my only option was to pay them full price for a new phone OR sign on for another two years. They knew I could walk but that didn't matter. I asked the person if they would rather lose me as a customer than let me buy a phone on my own and activate it without another contract. I used the words "lose me as a customer" and the rep still said, "Yes." Someone is really slacking in their customer retention skills.

Needless to say, I went to my nearest AT&T store immediately. For a whopping eleven bucks I walked out with a new phone, my old number, and warm fuzzy feelings all over. My sales guy was amazing and since then has even answered questions for me on his day off. He did not, however, divulge anything about the iPhone I didn't already know. He's a good soldier, too.

Now that we know CD will have his own iPhone by the end of July, what about me? It will depend on how supplies hold up since, as I said, I'm not willing to queue for one. Wow, I must be getting old. A few years ago, I'd probably be trying to figure out a way to camp out at a store. Now I'm thinking that if I killed my last phone by dropping it, should I really be trusted with one of these beauties?

this blog is a toddler

Today is the second birthday of "three dogs and a baby". We are now one dog, one toddler and a baby, but it doesn't have nearly the same ring to it.

I hope we don't have the terrible twos here but it does feel like we're in the throws of toddlerhood. I have been trying to come up with a new name for this blog for longer than I care to admit and I am entirely indecisive about it, just like a toddler. (Milk? No milk. Water. Water? No water. Milk. Rinse, repeat.) I listen to song lyrics (mostly Elvis Costello) and often think I have heard a short phrase that might work. Usually someone has already used it or has an unintended meaning one could attach to it. I hope I am not saying the same thing around this time next year.

a girly girl?

Could it be? A girly girl? She sure seems to like the dress.

falling down on the job

Melissa reminded me I have been remiss is posting pics of Miss Ellie. There will be more after I get home but here's one to tide you over.

She's wearing her first dress today, to Tika's wedding. That will be one big photo op.

12 is the new 9 (hours)

Driving 544 miles with a 2 year old and a 9 week old takes 12 hours, especially if you hit the George Washington bridge in NYC at 5:30pm on a weekday, in a thunderstorm.

Children cry when confined to carseats for long periods of time. They occasionally hyperventilate when crying to excess. (I am an expert at this and the apple does not fall far from the tree.)

You have been warned.

she sleeps

Posting this will no doubt jinx the whole thing but Eleanor SLEEPS!!!! Oh, boy, does she sleep.

Sunday night she went to sleep at 10 pm, following a five ounce bottle with CD, and I woke her up at 5:30 am, after I found myself leaking all over the bed. I pumped the fastest five ounces of my life while she nursed on the other side. She nursed without really waking up and went right back in her crib when she finished. In retrospect, I should have pumped before I went to bed but given Eleanor's history of having a bottle and then being hungry again an hour later, I didn't.

Last night was a near-perfect repeat, except that I pumped while CD gave Eleanor the bottle and I woke her to nurse at 6 am. Once again, she didn't really wake up and once again, I pumped a whole bunch. Had she not done the same thing Sunday night I probably would have chocked it up to getting her first shots yesterday but it really seems like we now have a Baby Who Sleeps Through the Night. At 9 weeks!! Since "sleeping through the night" is defined as a five hour stretch of sleep, we have ourselves an over-achiever. Making up for her brother, who didn't sleep this long until his first birthday, no doubt.

The report from her two week well-baby checkup was all good too. She weighs 6300 grams, is 61 centimeters long, and her head is 40 centimeters in circumference. A big girl all around, but all in the right proportion, according to the doc. He's not one to go over the top at all so when he said, "She looks terrific!" it really meant a lot. I never had enough confidence to view Oliver's milestones as an accomplishment for me, but as with so many things, this time around is a different story.

a little like falling in love

I am not a natural parent. I have to work at it. Every. Blasted. Minute. Which is probably why I find it so exhausting. While I knew I would walk through fire or throw myself in front of a truck for my children from the moment they were born, if not before, in each case it has taken me a little while to feel at ease with my baby, to feel like I know them.

In the beginning, I have a lot of trouble talking to the baby, especially when we spend long periods without anyone else around. I have to remind myself to do narrate, to use their name, and to let them know what we're going to do together. Slowly, I find myself talking, giving the baby a running commentary on what we're doing and what is going on. Maybe it happens when the baby starts to be more interactive and show glimpses of her personality, I'm not sure. I just know it's not instant kind of thing for me.

Today Eleanor and I were doing lots of errands. We had to go to the Social Security office to get her middle name corrected, to the doctor for her checkup and first round of shots, to a shop to return some trousers that were too large for Oliver and find him more summer pjs, and check in with the painter at the house we are selling. I realized I was not at all self-conscious as I chatted with little Eleanor, walking around the shops, surrounded by strangers.

When we left the last shop it was raining, something that was not happening when we went in and that I was not expecting. As I pushed the stroller back to our car, narrating all the way, it washed over me with the rain. I knew that we fit together, just like that moment you know you're really in love.

I have forgotten exactly when I reached this point with Oliver but today it happened with Eleanor. I'm blogging it so I can look back and remember.

stash

The frozen milk stash currently stands at 45 ounces, up from a mere 13 before CD left eleven days ago (and light years ahead of the most I ever had with Oliver). That's an average of nearly three ounces added per day. I had hoped to freeze 4-5 ounces but the first few days really kicked my butt and I froze nothing. We will have to start using some of it when CD returns so it doesn't get too old.

We are going to Worcester next week for Tika's wedding. Aunt Suzy will be meeting us there to assist with the child wrangling. Depending on the weather, I will try to bring some frozen milk with me so Aunt Suzy can give Eleanor a bottle or two. I see a bit of wine or champagne in my future....

It may not sound like much to you, but to me those frozen milk sticks feel like a warm fuzzy security blanket.

taking fashion cues from my son

When I bought these red shoes for Oliver I had no idea they were "cool". I was looking for something that was comfortable, water-friendly, and fast drying. Red was a bonus. He looks good in red.

Only when I took him to school did I find out they were trendy. A little research revealed they were probably a good choice for me too, but I had to wait for a sale. Thank you Hanna.

I feel like one of the cool kids now.

mixed bag

There's always some bad news mixed in with the good.

Good news: Eleanor slept seven hours last night! (And I was asleep for FIVE of them! It was glorious.) I put her down at 10:15 and woke her up to nurse at 5:15. She went right back to sleep. The return to full swaddling, as well as big doses of fresh air, are good for her sleep. And for mine.

Bad news: As soon as I got back into bed at 5:30 Oliver woke up. He would not go back to sleep. What happened to my boy who slept until 7:30? I'd like him to come back now.

yuck

In light of various recent topics you would think it was not possible to gross me out. You would be wrong.

little babies are portable

Eleanor has now been to her first US Open. Maybe someday she will be a famous golfer and can tell people she had "lunch" when she was eight weeks old next to the fairway on number one during the first day of practice rounds in 2007.

I was a bit worried about taking her, though we had practiced long walks in the baby bjorn over the weekend. I was even more worried about breastfeeding at this kind of event. In both cases, my worry was unfounded. She slept until she got hungry and even then she was fairly quiet and not at all disruptive. We sat down under a tree, not far from where tee shots were landing in the first hole fairway and got comfortable. [I should note that "comfortable" is a relative term here. Sitting down is still a bit of a trial, and required a visit with the doc today.]

Oakmont looks fabulous and should be spectacular on TV this weekend, as long as the gorgeous weather continues. I have a Flickr set of a trip to the course last year, a very special walk around part of the back nine with club pro Bob Ford. It was a privilege just to meet Mr Ford. To walk the course and hear him talk about it was an amazing experience. He said it would look different with all the bleachers and towers and tents and he wasn't kidding, but even with all the apparatus it is quite a sight. I have a somewhat twisted love of golf courses, especially since I have never swung a club. Someday....

Eleanor went along on the aforementioned doctor visit this morning. We took the opportunity to weigh her. She's 13 pounds on the official scale. At the same age, Oliver was 11 pounds, 2 ounces. He got to 13 pounds when he was three months old. I try not to compare them but with things like this, where we have such precise records, it is inevitable. Eleanor has been reminding me that she is not her brother since the beginning of the pregnancy. I keep telling her I get the message but she doesn't trust me on that yet.

thud

It was a pretty good night. Eleanor had a bath and went to sleep around 9:45pm. She cried once about 15 minutes later but went right back to sleep. I didn't hear from her for about 5 hours. She nursed on one side only so I pumped the other, around 3am! She woke up again around 5:30. Nursing was interrupted by a very loud THUD from next door, as in Oliver's room, not the neighbors. He fell out of bed, only the second time since moving to the toddler bed in January.

When I went in to help him he was shaking, not something I have ever seen him do. When it became clear he wanted breakfast instead of more sleep it was also clear that Eleanor wanted the rest of her breakfast too. We all piled into the big bed. Eleanor finished nursing and Oliver got over his rude awakening.

We made another sojourn into Squirrel Hill, but only as far as Starbucks for a snack. We left later and it was warmer, and I was sweatier as a result. Oliver once again enjoyed seeing the dinosaur at the Children's Institute. Did I mention that yesterday? Today he sang his dinosaur song most of the way, when he wasn't yelling, "Dinosaur, where ARE you?" or singing "Happy Birthday" to the dinosaur (or sometimes to the sausages). He was happy to come home and shoot a few hoops. After spending the first few days concentrating on his dunk, he's now sinking them regularly from three or four feet away. When you are two, that qualifies as an outside shot.

They are both asleep so I'm going to go get a shower. It seems we are hitting our stride with this solo parenting stuff.