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Over the shoulder, originally uploaded by caseycasey.

I see you!

GOTCHA!

Originally uploaded by caseycasey.

Ava finds her favorite boy and lays a sloppy one on him.

I’ve started writing this entry a hundred times. I didn’t know exactly what it was I wanted to say until I saw this cartoon drawing by Ben Lansing. It encapsulates perfectly what I have been feeling. This past week I’ve felt incredibly homesick for Virginia. My college and graduate school years at James Madison University will always hold fond memories for me, and even more so now.

My heart goes out to all of the families and friends at Tech.

What does a real mom do?

Real moms take videos of their kids to blackmail them when they’re 18.

Real moms let their babies maul their bodies in the name of exploration. Be glad I didn’t take a video of Matthew unlatching from my breast while nursing to critically examine my nipple, and when I wasn’t paying attention, practiced the pincer grip.

Real moms also laugh, cry, don’t sleep, pump, nurse, feed, hug, caress and more.

Matthew had his nine month appointment on Monday, and he’s now a whopping 26 lbs. and 6.9 oz. – as I explained it to someone regarding his growth, he is on average heavier than 100% of the babies his age. His growth chart is consistent – just above the 100th percentile. He’s slowed down, which is nice – he’s given us a chance to get used to his weight.

I made it to 9 months of breastfeeding without formula (well, he had a smidge his first night because of low blood sugar). Yesterday was his first full day of full-on formula supplementation – we’re trying a soy formula based on the recommendation of his pediatrician, who doesn’t think his issues are food allergy-related. So we try the soy formula, then if that goes well, we reintroduce dairy into my diet, which will be quite nice.

I only was able to pump something like 4 or 5 ounces on Monday in total, so we had quite a bit to supplement yesterday. I called Josh at one point and asked how he was doing. In my mind, I saw my son as a melodramatic martyr. “Give me breastmilk or give me death! Where’s my breastmilk? I DEMAND A RECOUNT!”

Predictably, Josh said, “Oh, he takes it like any other bottle.” Hmph. No brand loyalty, that boy.

Anyway, today’s pumping only required 1 ounce to supplement, so that’s nice. I know there are babies who thrive just fine on formula, and I am trying so hard not to become That Woman who’s That Way about formula versus breastfeeding, but I can’t help but feel like just even having the stupid can of formula in our house is going to make my breasts go on strike and dry the heck up. Blah.

The Good: Matthew’s 9 month well-baby visit went, er, well. He’s 26 lbs. 6.9 oz., 29.75 inches, and his head circumference is 19 inches. Chunkalunk.

The Bad (which is also good in some ways): we will definitely start supplementing tomorrow. I only managed 5 ounces today, and that is after this weekend’s crazy extra pumping and gorging on oatmeal (I can’t take a lot of the regular galactagogues because of my diabetes). The good in this is that the pediatrician today recommended that we try soy formula first to see how Matthew does with it – and if he does well, we’ll start reintroducing dairy into my diet again. The thought of cheese right now is more than I can bear.

The Ugly: A mom was asked to leave a Ronald McDonald House because she was breastfeeding. The stupidity of others never ceases to amaze me.

My heart goes out to the Virginia Tech community today. I won’t link, because it’s all over the internet. I am a proud James Madison University alumna; for a variety of reasons, this story is really hitting close to home. Much love to the Hokies.

• washed diaper laundry
• made baby food – baked and/or steamed: green beans, carrots, acorn squash, applesauce and sweet potatoes
• took a nap
• made black bean soup
• pumped milk
• washed about 4,000 bottles and their assorted accoutrements
• made egg salad for lunch (I added dijon mustard and worcestershire sauce – very yummy)
• nursed Matthew
• organized all babyfood stuff in the freezer

Things I still have to do but probably won’t:

• sort and “fold” diaper laundry
• purge stuff on desk for preparation to move
• work out
• work on work stuff that I brought home

Win some, lose some.

Dear Matthew,

This last month has been a total blur! You started out the month relatively still – I mean, you’ve always been wiggly and squirmy, as all babies are, but we could sit you down and be fairly certain that you would stay in that spot. Or we’d put you in bed on your back and you’d wake up – on your back in the same position.

Yeah, that totally didn’t last:

Let’s start earlier. Right after your eight month birthday, we celebrated by moving out. Baba and I realized that we were really disrupting your sleep, so we moved (well, Baba did most of the moving) our bed and dressers out of the room so you have your own room now, and slowly, over the course of this past month, you’ve gotten better and better at the sleeping biz. For the last two nights (knock wood), you slept straight from 7:30pm-6:30am – with a couple of blips in the radar, but you quickly put yourself back to sleep. Your napping has slowly gotten better too, although sometimes it seems like if you have a good night’s sleep, your day’s sleep gets a little funky, and vice versa.

You went to the park for the first time and really liked the swings – but you were just fascinated with all of the other children playing and running around. I think you realized that there are other people who are as small (big?) as you are out in the world, and you just soaked them all in. You still really love interacting with people – and have only shown very minor instances of stranger anxiety, but after inspecting them for a few minutes, you warm up to others quite nicely! Your baba told me once that on the train, Baba was carrying you in the meitai and realized you were busy smiling at someone and reached out to pat them on the arm.

We took another trip this month – to Orlando, Florida, so Mama could go to a conference, and you and Baba could meet with Grandpa and Grandma and hang out with them. Our trip down was a bit hairy – your carseat got lost in the abyss of Midway Airport, so we ended up borrowing a carseat from a supervisor at the Southwest counter, and you got a very slight head cold from the plane, but I think you enjoyed yourself! We went to Disney World on one day, and you got to swim in a pool with Grandma and Grandpa the other days. While we were in Florida, you didn’t sleep well, but that’s probably because you were working on the shiny new skills you showed off to your grandparents: you rolled from back to belly and then propped yourself up to a seated position (all while I was trying to change your diaper – so your poor genitals smashed into the carpet, ow), you started clicking your tongue, and you learned about kissing (although you would only kiss your baba by licking his lips, to his dismay! “Stop french kissing your baba, Matthew!”).

Once you got home, though, all bets were off: your mobility is strong and in a forward-motion and we are in trouble! You are so good at crawling and look like you’ve been doing it forever! You love crawling over to the bookshelves and dumping out Baba’s books. One time when you did that, Baba picked you up and deposited you elsewhere so he could put the books back on the shelves, to find that you had pulled yourself up to a standing position.

Side note – we are in so, so much trouble:

We are still breastfeeding, although my milk supply has really dipped. I am committed to nursing you until you decide to wean, and I hope that’s not for quite awhile. The time during the day when you and I cuddle up and you nurse is probably the most meaningful there is, and the one that really reconnects me to you every day. We have so little time together during the week and it’s those small, quiet moments that really make a difference.

Foods you’ve eaten (you’ve pretty much liked them all!): sweet potatoes, butternut squash, multigrain rice cereal (to thicken up the other foods), acorn squash, green beans, carrots, pears, chicken, turkey, avocado, banana, cheerios, raspberries, blueberries and a few others I’m not remembering. You really like eating (shocker), and you love mushing your foods. Ava, for one, is THRILLED about your food.

Nine months – you have officially been alive as long as you were while you were in utero. It amazes me that you were once so small that you could barely be seen as a bump on my belly, but are now a strong, interdependent, charming and happy little boy who is so curious about everything and anything. We are enjoying you so much – you are such a fun person to spend time with! I hope that as the months and years pass, your love and curiousity about other people and things stays as rich as it is now.

All of my love,

Mama

(Pictures from this last month – get your daily dose of chunk right there)

9th Month Developmental Milestones

90% of babies can…
bear some weight on legs – yes
look for dropped object – yes, and shout indignantly if it is not replaced ASAP OMG MAMA OPPRESSES ME

75% of babies can…
pull up to a standing position from sitting – yes
creep or crawl – yes
get into a sitting position from stomach – yes
object if you try to take a toy away – the tears, man. The TEARS!
stand holding on to someone or something – yes
pick up tiny object with thumb and finger – when he wants to. Other times he doublefists Cheerios with abandon.
say “mama” or “dada” indiscriminately – yes
play peekaboo – loves this game!

50% of babies can…
play patty-cake or wave bye-bye – no
walk holding on to furniture – no, but we have no real space for him to do this yet.
understand “no” – yes, but I think he is trying to play innocent!

25% of babies can…
roll ball back and forth to parent – no
drink from a cup – yes, but not neatly!
pick up tiny object neatly – when he wants to
stand alone momentarily – no
stand alone well – no
say mama or dada discriminately – didn’t I just answer this? yes
say one word other than mama or dada – not yet
respond to one step command with gestures – I’m not sure we’ve ever tried this. Must work on it.

Matthew is one day shy of 9 months. Holy crap!

Swiped from Stacie:

9th Month Developmental Milestones

90% of babies can…
bear some weight on legs – yes
look for dropped object – yes, and shout indignantly if it is not replaced ASAP OMG MAMA OPPRESSES ME

75% of babies can…
pull up to a standing position from sitting – yes
creep or crawl – yes
get into a sitting position from stomach – yes
object if you try to take a toy away – the tears, man. The TEARS!
stand holding on to someone or something – yes
pick up tiny object with thumb and finger – when he wants to. Other times he doublefists Cheerios with abandon.
say “mama” or “dada” indiscriminately – yes
play peekaboo – loves this game!

50% of babies can…
play patty-cake or wave bye-bye – no
walk holding on to furniture – no, but we have no real space for him to do this yet.
understand “no” – yes, but I think he is trying to play innocent!

25% of babies can…
roll ball back and forth to parent – no
drink from a cup – yes, but not neatly!
pick up tiny object neatly – when he wants to
stand alone momentarily – no
stand alone well – no
say mama or dada discriminately – didn’t I just answer this? yes
say one word other than mama or dada – not yet
respond to one step command with gestures – I’m not sure we’ve ever tried this. Must work on it.

Matthew’s moving forward.

One guess as to who has not babyproofed.