Childcare Update

We are still working on figuring out a nanny solution (either a part-time nanny just for us, or a nanny-share situation with friends of ours), but in the interim, we decided to take the spot that opened up at the daycare. They offered us Mondays and Fridays (lousy days) but we decided to take just Mondays. Until May 20, they have openings everyday, so we can take advantage of drop-off days in addition to Mondays. We are going to test this out and see how it goes. If the nanny thing falls through, it gets us in the door at the daycare, and we should be able to work out better days by the Fall. We went back to visit the facility this past Wednesday to see the classroom and meet his primary caretaker (he will be a Little Lamb). I was crying while we were there . . . I know I need to get help so I can get my work done . . . but the thought of someone else caring for my little guy breaks my heart. He is thriving, and I'm so proud of the fact that we did that, and I don't think anyone can make him grow and thrive the way we can. But I do realize that I can't do it all myself. I keep thinking I'll feel more comfortable with daycare when he is older - I can kind of consider it early preschool at that point. I guess we'll try this out, and it will give me a chance to see how I'm feeling and if this will work for us. We can add more days if necessary, or cancel our spot and switch to a nanny. I really do believe that this facility will be wonderful for Micah as he gets older, but I wish I was ready for him to be in daycare right now. Keep your fingers crossed that we can find a nanny situation!

Can I have my ear back?

It is Passover . . . a lovely holiday that has those of us who are observing eating cardboard for 8 days. Okay, not exactly. Passover commemorates our freedom from slavery in Egypt . . . the story of Moses (queue The Ten Commandments). We have seders, a special ceremonial dinner, the first two nights of Passover, to retell the story of Passover and celebrate our current lives of freedom. We then continue to eat matzah and do not eat any bread/grains for 8 days to remind us that our ancestors fled Egypt in such a hurry that they did not have sufficient time to let their bread rise.

The first night, my parents hosted seder at their house. Jeremy and Jen and my two nieces all came down, and it was a good event. We grew up with a family who lives around the corner from my parents. My brother and their oldest daughter Rayna were best friends, and we always refer to Rayna and Stuart as our brother and sister. They were back in town this week for Passover, so as is our tradition, they came over to spend time at my parents' house before the seders began. My oldest niece Paige was a bit unsure of Stuart . . . which is amazing, because he is so sweet and gentle that EVERYONE loves him! Early on during their visit, he "took" her nose and her ear. She mostly avoided him the rest of the visit, and cautiously watched him from afar. Just as Stu was getting ready to leave, she said "Excuse me, can I have my ear back?" He laughed for a second and then got very serious. He carefully took her ear out and put it back for her. He asked if that was okay, and she responded with "and my nose." He promptly returned her nose, she flashed him a smile, and walked away. Aren't 2 1/2 year olds wonderful?

During their visit, my younger niece Peyton was still napping. We decided that we would head over to their house to visit and show off the babies to their Grandma Della once Peyton woke up. At 5:00, we headed over there for a visit. It was so much fun to introduce the next generation of our family to Della. We had a nice visit before returning for our seder. When we were growing up, our families always did a seder together, so this holiday is filled with so many collective memories for us.

Another milestone: Micah can push buttons on toys! He was downstairs on the floor with my two nieces, and they kept bringing him toys and showing him how to work them. He had a piano and another toy that played music when you pushed a button, and he kept pushing the buttons and keys over and over again. I can't believe he is ready for new toys!!

We hosted the second seder at our house. Elliot's parents, his brother Steven and his wife Jodi, and two of their chidlren (Brian and Stephanie) joined us, along with my parents. We had a lovely dinner, and Micah got to spend time with his grandparents and cousins. It was a very pleasant evening, and the food was wonderful (if I do say so myself). Elliot made turkey and meatloaf and chicken soup, my mom made brisket and kosher for passover mandel bread (Jewish biscotti) and I made the side dishes and dessert (matzah balls for the soup, matzah farfel, which is the Passover version of stuffing, asparagus, a spinach souffle, a broccoli souffle, kosher for passover brownies and cake - it is amazing how ground up matzah and eggs can actually taste pretty good!). I decorated the cake for my in-laws birthdays. We did have one disaster - the apple charlotte . . . basically, it is made from apples, raisins, crumbled matzah, and eggs, and it is kind of like an apple crisp. It is one of my favorite dishes. It came out perfectly, and I had it cooling on the range. Elliot wasn't paying attention, and when he turned the burner on to heat up the soup, he turned on the wrong burner . . . and kind of set fire to the apple charlotte. He was still hoping to save it and just cut out the burnt parts (yeah, right). My dad, in an effort to help, tried to move the dish from the range top to the granite countertop to get it out of the way while we were cooking. It was so hot that the minute it touched the cold granite, the glass pyrex dish EXPLODED!! Needless to say, we had to throw it away.

I'm now sitting in bed, my niece and nephew asleep downstairs, Elliot watching tv, and I'm typing this and watching Micah on the monitor. I received an email from a friend of mine who is expecting a baby soon saying she got the same monitor and has been playing around with it. They are looking forward to plugging it in to their tv in their bedroom at night. It is funny, because we were going to set it up and plug it in for everyone to watch tonight . . . and then we got distracted. In fact, I don't think we've ever plugged it in to the tv yet. I think we are going to try and plug it in soon and see if we can record some footage of Micah in bed - I'll try and post it when we do that. He is currently sleeping across the width of the crib (or at 90 degrees, as we like to say). He keeps almost rolling over in bed, but he does not fully make it over to his tummy - mostly because he keeps trying to roll "uphill" since he is sleeping the wrong way in his crib. He loves to get so close to the bumpers when he sleeps - I should be more worried about how close his face gets to the material, but I guess I feel like I survived on my tummy and with blankets in the crib, he should be just fine.

In the morning, Elliot's other brother Daniel, his wife Jody, and their son Ethan, are driving down, and the whole family will get together. We are going to try and see some of the cherry blossoms before they leave (weather permitting). I'm making breakfast for everyone in the morning, and it should be a nice day together. My friend Tammy is coming tomorrow night, and I'm hoping the rain will disappear so we can go see the cherry blossoms together. It should be a wonderful weekend.

I think I used to be fun

As the title of this post says, I think I used to be a lot of fun. I really don't sleep, so I was always willing to spontaneously run out and go wherever, any hour of the day or night. Bored and want to play pool? Call Jessica, she'll come meet you! Interested in staying out all night and dancing? Call Jessica, she'll come along! Need to just chat on the phone about work/boyfriend/date/crazy night . . . call Jessica, she'll pick up any time! Want to go for a walk at 3:30 because the weather is nice . . . call Jessica, she never makes plans in advance and will almost always drop everything to get out of the house and procrastinate. Looking for company to get a massage or a manicure? You get the picture. Interested in going shopping . . . okay, that was never my bailiwick. For that, you should probably call my father.

I used to travel a lot - all over the world. I've been to over 35 states and more than 14 countries. I always had a trip planned or in the works. For our honeymoon, we went to Africa. I've been all over Europe, on cruises, and all around the Caribbean. I am a foodie, and I have eaten in some of the best restaurants around the country. I love going to the movies, seeing shows, going up to New York to catch Broadway shows, and attending concerts.

All of this is to say that I do not think I am fun or interesting anymore. Getting out is a challenge, I have no idea the next time I will be going on a non-work vacation, and the only thing I think when the phone rings after 8:00 pm is "I hope that doesn't wake Micah." When I hear about parties, I think it sounds like too much trouble. When I get a call to go on a walk, I think "do I have enough time to go before I have to feed Micah?"

I really miss being fun sometimes. I wouldn't trade a second of my time with Micah, but it does make me wonder if I will ever be fun again.

You've got the cutest little baby face

Today, we will be presenting a photo essay. Micah in pictures. Here are a few of my favorite things:

Hanging out in my loungewear . . . like the slippers?

And the mullet shots (okay, it is part faux hawk). . .

business in the front. . . .

party in the back . . .


Look at that luscious hair!


Can you see my curls?



And let's finish this off with an installment of Micah tv. Press the triangle on the lower left of each picture to watch the videos! Enjoy Micah chatting and playing:

Micah in Wonderland

The good news is, things have improved on the sleep front with Micah. We discovered that Micah has just been hungry at bedtime, so we've been giving him some extra milk before bed, and bedtime has become a joy again. We're not sure if my milk supply is low or if Micah is growing and just needs a little more right now, but things seem to be under control for now.

I have to say, Micah amazes me when he sleeps. He can be an incredibly restless sleeper some nights - kicking all over the place, making noises, plunging his hands into that gorgeous head of hair (who wouldn't want to do that?) and trying to shove his fists into his mouth. Other nights, he barely moves or makes a sound. When he was younger, we had him sleeping on an incline secure sleeper - it is made of foam, it kept his head elevated to minimize the acid reflux, and it had pillows for his arms to keep him from sliding down. The only problem was, he kept sliding down, so all night long, we'd have to go in and slide him back up. He would either wake up from sliding down, or he would be irritated when we lifted him back up, prompting a round of kicks and punches that would, of course, cause him to slide back down again. As he grew larger and we stopped swaddling him, we decided to remove the incline sleeper and buy a crib wedge - basically, a triangular-shaped wedge that lays on top of his mattress to keep his head a bit elevated to reduce problems with acid reflux.

This new sleeping situation has been a major improvement! We do not need to run in and out of his room all night lifting him up and waiting for him to slide down. For the first few weeks, it was ideal. As Micah has grown stronger, however, he is moving around the crib a bit more. The past few nights, he seems to like to turn 90 degrees and lay across his crib. I'm fairly certain the crib wedge does not help reflux when the baby refuses to lay on it. The past several mornings, he wakes up crying when he has turned 180 degrees . . . yes, that is right, he uses the crib wedge to put his feet up. I'm fairly certain dangling the head downwards is NOT good for reflux. In general, we have been leaving Micah to move about the crib as he pleases, as long as he seems comfortable and sleeps. He has been sleeping so soundly that we have not needed to go in to reinsert the paci at all the past few nights.

Tonight, we went upstairs, put him in his pajamas, gave him his medicine, and I nursed him while Elliot read him a goodnight story. I thought Micah was finished eating - I seemed to be out of milk, and he seemed contented with his paci. He was smiling at me, so I decided to read him another story while we rocked together. Suddenly, he started to get fussy and restless again, so I tried nursing him some more. Just in case, I had another 2 ounces of milk in a bottle on hand. He was quite insistent on what he wanted - he would have none of the right side, and was all about the left side. I got him into position, and away he nursed. I did not think he would get enough, but after a few minutes, his eyes began to close and he sort of relaxed. I made the decision to nurse him to sleep rather than try moving him or separating him before he decided to pull off. Maybe he just needed some bonding with mommy tonight. It took another 5-10 minutes, but Micah passed out and flopped off. I popped in his paci, and moved him into the crib.

After Elliot and I did some cooking in preparation for our upcoming Passover seder on Thursday night, I checked Micah on the monitor because he was so quiet. Once again, he had turned 90 degrees and was sleeping across the crib. I give up! He is very cute . . . I guess eventually he'll outgrow this position. I may need to give up on the crib wedge, too, although I think it at least keeps him from spitting up for the first few hours he is in the crib after eating.

Micah does such a great job sleeping and napping - I'm so lucky that he is such a good baby. I have been terrible, however, about making him nap in his crib. I have a feeling I am going to regret that one of these days. He really does not like to nap in his crib - most days, he isn't even too thrilled with the pack n play. He does most of his naps either in the swing, his car seat, or the stroller. Does anyone have tips about napping locations?

We also bought a new stroller tonight. We had been using just the Graco stroller frame - you just snap the car seat in and go. It is easy to use, and really has been perfect for us. Elliot picked up a metrolite stroller as a backup stroller at a consignment shop about a month ago. The pattern is ugly and it is a bit bulky, but it has been good to have an extra stroller in my car or at the house sometimes. Since we will not be able to use the stroller frame once Micah outgrows his car seat (we still have a few more months on that front), we've been hunting for our "permanent" stroller. We decided to buy the BabyJogger CityMini stroller. We think it will be great for walking around Bethesda and DC (we plan to test it out next weekend when we take Tammy to see the Cherry Blossoms), it is easy to fold and store, and it is so easy to maneuver. I'm already excited about it, and we have not even used it yet! We may still need to get just a regular old umbrella stroller at some point, but we'll worry about that when the time comes.