Suzy Q Homemaker

Ten months.  It feels strange to say it, Timothy, but that’s how old you are!  You went from a tiny, bright-eyed newborn to a cruising almost-toddler in what seems like a flash, and I am not ready to plan for your first birthday party.  Just a few months ago, you discovered how find tiny things on the carpet and sneak them into your mouth.  Now, I’m able to put tiny pieces of carrots and bananas on a high chair tray for you to eat. EAT!  You are eating!

Don’t get me wrong: nursing still makes for about 95% of your diet.  It always has been your favorite thing to do, and unless I’m at the store, you cannot go more than three or four hours without nursies.  Lately, though, you only want to nurse if we’re lying in bed so you can practice some yoga moves while still latched on.  I’m not a fan of eating in downward-facing dog position, but hey, whatever floats your boat.  Just keep your teeth out of it, ok?

Speaking of teeth, you bit me a couple weeks ago and it’s still sore, Timothy.  I had to go to the doctor because of my INFECTED HUMAN BITE.  It is now on my permanent medical record that you bit my right nipple, causing it to “itch, ooze, and bleed.”  We’re on the mend, thankfully, and I hope that by next week, nursing won’t be nearly as excruciating as it has been.

Physically, you’re right on track.  Well, I think we are.  I totally forgot about our nine-month appointment last month, so I need to reschedule.  I’m going to assume that you weigh as much as you need to weigh and are as tall as you need to be, even though you look so tiny to me when you’re standing up next to the couch.  The standing up thing is still freaking me out, too.  Please wait another week before you decide to start walking.

There are a few things that you like to do that make us laugh right now:

• Chase the vacuum
• Clap your feet together
• Carry toys in your mouth like a dog

I’m glad you aren’t afraid of the vacuum, but it makes it hard to clean up after your brothers when you try to attack the vacuum cleaner!  For a while, you didn’t crawl fast enough to catch it, so I was able to out-maneuver you.  Now, I either have to hold you or get someone to distract you with something almost as awesome in order to get it done.  No matter–it’s still hilarious.

Daddy and I like to hold you in the air so you’ll clap your feet together.  There really is no other way to explain this, but it kind of reminds me of a strange clown dance.  Make sense?  Kind of?

The carrying of toys in your mouth has been happening ever since you could crawl.  My guess is that you need to be able to carry your things to the next destination because you have the inability to spend more than five seconds in one place.  Anything that fits and is light enough for your mouth to hold is fair game, but it is easier if the toy can hook over your two bottom teeth.  For the record, you carrying stuff in your mouth also makes the nursery workers at church laugh and they like to give you toys that are portable just to watch you do it.

These last two months of your first year are going to be full of more milestones and more fun.  Like I said, I’m not ready for you to be a year old, but who am I to try to stop time?

My guess is that when Timothy started getting a cold last week, his ears were so clogged up that in order to pop them, he had to clamp down on something.  That something ended up being my right nipple, which soon got to the point where I could no longer nurse without crying.  I’ll spare you the gory details that involve PUS AND BLOOD.  With the painkillers, I can wear a shirt without having to hold it away from the offending wound.  For a few days, I had been walking around with my right shoulder stooped down like Quasimodo so no fabric could touch it and cause a string of obscenities that would make your mama cry.

It’s Blog Action Day!  The topic this year is climate change.  Here are the Three B’s in my Babies for Climate Change campaign (that I just made up):

BIRTH!

Ok, so it’s not for everyone, but I bet I saved a ton by not going to the hospital for my birth.  No wasted packaging on drugs, no wasted gas driving to the hospital, and we didn’t have to worry about throwing away whatever free crap the hopital would have given us.

BREASTFEEDING!

One of the best things about breastfeeding is that it is free and environmentally friendly.  Think of all the energy put into the manufacturing, packaging, and distribution of formula.  Not to mention the energy used to make the bottles, wash the bottles, and eventually throw them away.  Don’t just breastfeed for your baby’s health–breastfeed for the planet!

BUTTS!

Use cloth diapers on your baby’s bottom and you’ll definitely be doing the planet a favor.  I shudder when I imagine all those disposable diapers sitting in landfills, plus all the packaging that goes along with it.  Cloth diapers are cheaper in the long run, and they are easy on the energy cost.  Check out the low-down on cloth vs. disposable at the Real Diaper Association.

Happy Blog Action Day!

As of October 1, 2009, a new WIC initiative aimed at increasing breastfeeding rates among families reallocates funding for all currently provided foods, including infant formula, baby foods, juices, and fresh fruits and vegetables. This program could mean a reduction of up to 20 percent in infant-formula subsidies; parents who previously had most of their formula paid for by WIC may now have to purchase formula on their own. Read more…

This is a photograve from 1890 Paris.  A group of mothers are getting their children vaccinated against smallpox.  Do you think they were concerned about that woman breastfeeding her baby in the corner without a “hooter hider” or whatever the hell you call it?

Cause seriously.  There are more important things.