A Bullet-Point Post

• Pureed carrots are messy. They are particularly messy when your baby doesn't want to eat them and instead opens his mouth and lets the contents spill out, then grabs at the saliva-soaked mess as it drips down his chin and into the gap between his neck and his bib.
• For Milo's first Halloween, I had a plan to dress him up as an '80s aerobics instructor. It might have been sort of awesome, but it wasn't cuddly or adorable. I was feeling guilty about not having a proper, cute Halloween costume for him, so last night we went to a used kids' stuff store and bought the classic baby's-first-Halloween costume: a jack-o-lantern. I feel much better. He will be super adorable in this thing.
• Lately Milo has been sort of clingy. He likes to be held and fusses when you set him down or begin strapping him into his car seat. In a way, this is charming. I like that he wants me. But it's also quite frustrating. Getting dinner fixed, drying my hair, brushing my teeth, feeding the cats: everything is more difficult/impossible to do with a baby on your hip.
• Today is Andrew's birthday. I'm taking him out Saturday night for a big celebration, but for dinner tonight he requested portobello burgers. I thought, no way can I pull that off. I'd need to go to the store, Andrew would have to pick Milo up from daycare, and I'm not sure I'd have time to prepare a big meal. So I checked out menus online and tried to find a place that had portobello burgers that I could pick up on my way home. No luck. So I thought, maybe I can pull this off. I called Andrew and asked him to pick up Milo, then I snuck out of work 15 minutes early. I stopped at the grocery store and grabbed the things I needed. And in about 20 minutes, I made spinach and goat cheese-stuffed portobello burgers on toasted buns with a side of roasted sweet potato fries and a goat cheese-dried cranberry-pecan-spinach salad. (We really like goat cheese.) It was all quite good, if I do say so myself. (And even with all that meal preparation going on, Milo still got his carrots and got to bed on time. Success!)
• Milo might be starting to learn to fall asleep on his own at daycare. For the last two or three days, he has fallen asleep by himself for every nap, though he hasn't always stayed asleep for very long. Oh well, he's got to start somewhere, right?

The Start of a New Era

Last night I went in to Milo's bedroom to soothe him back to sleep and found him standing up in his crib, clinging to the rails and sobbing. What am I going to do with a baby who knows how to stand up?

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Seven Months!

At seven months, Milo is like a different baby than he was at six months old. He's learned so much and can do so much, it's amazing.

At seven months, Milo can easily sit up on his own.

At seven months, Milo occasionally, nay, FREQUENTLY, sits up on his own when he meant to be sleeping, and cannot figure out how to lay back down.

At seven months, Milo does not like to lay down on the changing table and twists and turns Every. Single. Time. This makes it difficult to change his diapers. Distracting him with singing and being speedy are key.

At seven months, Milo can crawl. He doesn't like to show off, however, and only uses this skill to go a few feet when he spies something he'd really like to check out, like a dirty shoe or something pointy.

At seven months, Milo has been going to daycare for a full month. While he likes being there and watching and playing with the other babies, it's been a rough transition, to put it mildly.

At seven months, Milo no longer knows how to self-soothe.

At seven months, Milo no longer takes naps, really. Ten minutes here, twenty there... he's sleeping like a newborn. Sigh.

At seven months, Milo consistently wakes up at least once during the night to nurse, and sometimes wakes one or two (or three) other times and needs soothing before he can fall asleep.

At seven months, Milo hates to be set down. He'd much rather be carried around or be given lots of attention. This makes it difficult to do things like prepare meals or go to the bathroom.

At seven months, Milo is very sweet, and is often content to lay his head down on your shoulder (for a brief, brief moment, anyway).

At seven months, Milo has become a quick eater and finishes nursing in less than ten minutes. He used to drag it out over a half hour or more.

At seven months, Milo no longer needs the nipple shield to nurse. Can't remember if he was already over it at six months. Too bad I don't have a typed record of this somewhere. Oh, wait...

At seven months, Milo has eaten lots of solids, including rice cereal, peas, zucchini, sweet potatoes, avocado, and banana. At first he'd eat anything, dutifully opening his mouth at the appropriate times. After a couple weeks, he decided a didn't like to eat, and clamped his little toothless mouth shut. Just three days ago, we tried banana and he ate once again. Frankly, I can't say I blame the guy. I clamp my mouth shut for peas too, but who doesn't like bananas?

At seven months, Milo likes to eat ice water from a spoon.

At seven months, Milo's hair is growing longer, and it looks blondish brown. Go figure.

At seven months, Milo makes cute sounds, like buh buh buh, fffffp, puhpuhpuh.

At seven months, Milo still has no teeth.

At seven months, Milo does not have a lovey.

At seven months, Milo can pull himself up to standing if the conditions are right (meaning he has to be pretty close to something that is just the right height and has just the right things to grasp).

At seven months, we have lowered Milo's crib mattress by two notches.

At seven months, Milo loves bouncing, dancing with me or Andrew (or even better, both of us) in the kitchen, being sung to, banging things, putting things in his mouth, putting his hands on my lips and nose, being tossed in the air.

At seven months, Milo hates his high chair, being set down (evenings only), getting dressed, having his nose sucked out with the aspirator thingy.

At seven months, Milo has been sick for the last month, essentially. But I've pretty much covered that on this blog already.

At seven months, I am still having a rough time transitioning to being back at work. It's hard. H-A-R-D hard.

At seven months, I pump three times a day at work.

At seven months, I fit into my old favorite jeans, and I can wear my old size pants pretty consistently. I have a rounder belly than I used to, but I am only three pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight.

At seven months, I'm always tired. I typically wake up at 5:45 or 6:00am and go-go-go nonstop until 8:30pm or so. I didn't know how much work was involved in getting Milo ready each day, and preparing for the next day. It's exhausting.

At seven months, time is flying by. I can't believe I've been back at work for a full month. My baby's going to be a year old before I know it.

Milo's First Pumpkin Patch

We took Milo to his first pumpkin patch today. These things are clearly designed for older kids, but we had a lot of fun wandering around and taking advantage of some great photo ops. The weather was just right, sunny and about 75 degrees. Maybe a little warm for October, but it was nice that we didn't have to bundle Milo up. Milo loved watching everything going on around him. I definitely want to go to another pumpkin patch next year and chase Milo around the pumpkins.

Noteworthy Thursday #32

Dear Megan,

Wow, you have really been a downer lately. Go pour yourself some wine, put on your comfiest pants, and go watch three straight hours of TV. Or maybe go to bed early instead. But definitely start with the wine and comfy pants. You're going to be just fine. Things are already looking up.

After posting your List Of Sad yesterday, you got such an outpouring of support. And that made you feel super good. You are not alone, and other people have been there. And they have come out on the other side, and you will too. So what if you dropped your pump after your blog post went up yesterday and now it is making a funny noise? You laugh in the face of disaster! If the pump breaks today, it just gives you a good reason to go home and snuggle with your adorable baby.

He is extra adorable, you know. This morning he was so cuddly and sweet and let you just rock him for a few minutes. You weren't even thinking about how he wouldn't eat his peas last night or how you will have to attempt to feed him more peas tonight. No, you were just smelling his sweet head and hugging him close. It was a lovely moment.

And another good thing: the ladies at daycare said that Milo took a nice long nap yesterday and even fell asleep on his own! Of course, you didn't realize he hadn't been falling asleep on his own, and now you wonder just how exactly he has been falling asleep for the last few weeks, but no matter. The point is, Milo was happier last night because he had a good nap. And that meant you were happier, too.

It's a beautiful October day. Go make the most of it. Take five or ten minutes at lunchtime to go outside and soak up some sun. Then when you get home, I believe there is a bottle of red calling your name.

Love,
Megan

When it rains...

Things that have happened in the last two weeks:

• Milo got pinkeye.
• Milo had clogged tear ducts.
• Milo had ear infections in both ears.
• Milo threw up eight times in three hours (two nights before traveling).
• Milo and I flew to Washington, D.C., where Milo burped up his entire meal the first night, leaving me without any pj's and him without a sleep sack for the rest of the trip.
• Milo forgot how to poop, and seriously, four days is just too long to go without pooping.
• Milo spent half the flight back from D.C. crying, making me want to cry as well.
• Still reeling from my maternity leave and lack of a paycheck, we carried a balance on our credit card for the first time and had to get a cash advance from the bank when our checking account went into the negative.
• My car battery died, leaving me desperately calling around, trying to a) get someone to pick up Milo, and b) get someone to take me home.
• I fell further behind on my projects at work due to spending half a day trying to get my car fixed.
• My boobs began holding my milk hostage, refusing to let me pump the amount I know Milo needs.
• I dropped one of the bottles of pumped milk as I was putting it into my cooler bag, and it broke.
• Milo hasn't taken a decent nap in weeks, and is tired and cranky by the time he gets home in the evening, and it makes me so sad to only have fussy time with him each night.

My Poor Baby

Yesterday Milo's eye started to look really red and bloodshot. He also started violently yanking on his ear. This morning I took him to the doctor. The diagnosis? Pinkeye, ear infections in both ears, and two clogged tear ducts.

Until he's been on the antibiotics 24 hours, no daycare for him. He's with Grandma Sarah now, probably playing and having a lovely time. (Considering how lousy he must feel, he was in an awfully good mood this morning.)

It's so sad to see him this way, with his goopy red eye and his dried-snot mustache. And even though he's been sleeping terribly the last couple of nights, I never suspected an ear infection. I must be a bad mother. (I kid, but I do feel sort of guilty for not getting him fixed sooner.)

Send good thoughts his way. Milo's got a long week ahead of him. He'll have all those antibiotics going into his system, and we're flying to D.C. this weekend for my dear friend Molly's wedding. I sure hope he's feeling much better by then. Antibiotics usually work quickly, right?