My very noisy baby

The Micah man (one of my nicknames for him) had a great day today with his Daddy (and I was just excited that I managed to pump as much as he was eating!). I think his Daddy was a bit exhausted by the end of the day, and perhaps came to a new appreciation of how hard it really is for me most days, and how impossible it is to get much work done. Apparently, from when I left around 9 am until lunchtime, Micah was mostly wide awake and playing and chatting.

My boys came and joined me for lunch, and Micah was a huge hit (as always). He was sweet and smiling and just . . . charming. His nose is still pretty leaky, and he has been sneezing, but I still do not think he is sick - no fever, everything is still running clear. It is probably allergies (even though the doctors tell you that babies do not get environmental allergies until they are two). May I digress for a second? That theory is a lot of crap to me. If babies can develop allergies to food under 1 year of age, they can certainly develop allergies to the environment. I understand the doctors do not want to diagnose or treat it that young, but let's be honest here. His sneezing and coughing worsens when my allergies worsen - clearly there is a connection. The vet gave me the same story when Nugget was a puppy - she sneezed and coughed and itched, and I said it was allergies. She did it seasonally for 2 years, and after her 2nd birthday, they suddenly said "now she has allergies." Let's just hope the stuffiness doesn't give Micah an ear infection this plane trip. He was a little unhappy with the pressure the last flight.

Okay - stepping off my soapbox, and returning to the regularly scheduled topic . . . Micah! After lunch, Micah and Daddy went on a few walks, and played with toys, and overall had a wonderful day together. After I returned from my conference, we decided to head out to dinner. We went to a little restaurant that I remembered from my days at Emory called La Fonda. We had a wonderful meal (I ordered vegetable paella) and we drank some sangria. At the end of the meal, Micah was getting tired and hungry. I nursed him and hoped he would fall asleep in his carseat so we could go visit another old "haunt" from my college years . . . Cafe Intermezzo. For those of you who have never been, it is a chichi coffee place in Buckhead. The outside heated patio was built around existing trees. They play French and Italian language lessons in the bathroom. They take you on a "tour" of the desserts. It is the kind of place that you can show up to in a fancy evening gown or in your sweats while studying for exams, and both outfits somehow "fit."

We started the drive over to Buckhead, and Micah started to get really upset. We decided to pull into the Cafe Intermezzo parking lot, and I tried nursing Micah again while Elliot ran inside and checked out the place and picked up a slice of cake for us. Micah was really fussing, and refused to eat. I then thought he was getting hot, so I walked him around out in the fresh air, and he seemed to calm back down. When Elliot returned (with chocolate peanut butter cake!), we strapped Micah back in his carseat, and went to drive around Buckhead so I could reminisce about my college years. At this point, we were out past Micah's normal bed time, but we expected that he would fall asleep while we drove. A few blocks into the drive . . . Micah began to fuss and cry. We turned around immediately and headed back towards the hotel. It took me another few minutes to realize why Micah was so upset - I was a bad Mommy and I forgot to give him his Zantac (we were only 20 minutes late with his dosage)! Luckily, we had some Mylanta in the car, so I gave him a bit to tide him over until we got back to the room. Not surprisingly, that did the trick, and my happy baby returned.

We brought him up to the room, got him into his pajamas, gave him his Zantac, and I tried nursing him again. He nursed to sleep, and I transferred him into the crib . . . and he woke up. I nursed him some more and sang to him - and he sat there smiling and chatting. I moved him back into the crib, and he spent the next 35 minutes playing with his feet, rolling around, and chatting very loudly. I can't believe how much how much my little guy likes to talk! I have no idea what he was talking to, but boy did he have a lot to say! He giggled, and squawked, and made gutteral noises. I wish I knew what language he spoke. I think maybe Wookie . . . he has these gutteral growling sounds he makes that remind me of Chewbacca. Elliot insists that the language does not sound like anything from Star Trek. I'm a little worried that he can be that definitive about Star Trek languages. (Elliot is sitting here insisting that he is only certain it wasn't Klingon, he cannot vouch for other languages). After a while, Micah just suddenly got quiet and fell asleep. My very noisy baby finally passed out around 10:00 pm.

One last note . . . Micah is officially a serious thumbsucker. I am not exactly sure how this happened - he was very happily a paci baby until a few weeks ago. He found his thumb one day, and it has been true love ever since. The nice thing is he does not need us to come in and reinsert the paci when it falls out, but the bad news is he sticks his thumb in his mouth while he is asleep - I hope he outgrows it, because that is going to be a nasty habit to break.

We fly back home tomorrow - wish us a good flight back, and let's hope this flight is not as miserable for Micah as the trip out. We are landing around 7 pm, and we are hoping to remember to give him his Zantac, nurse him, and put him to bed in his carseat. With any luck, we'll get him home and in bed without interrupting his sleep.

Oh, and we think Micah might actually be getting ready to cut teeth! It looks like there is a white raised patch on his lower gums - we think the 2 front teeth are not too far off!

New attitude?

I woke up this morning in Atlanta, here for a conference. Micah was a good boy last night . . . he went to bed around 8:30, and he slept really well. He did not quite enjoy the flight as much as our previous flights. He had several short crying sessions, and his ears seemed to bother him. He has been quite congested, so it is possible that the congestion was the culprit. Around 4:30 or 5 this morning, he woke up talking. He was so cheery, and he just rolled around in the crib and chatted. He didn't sound hungry at all, but after about 30 minutes, I decided to pick him up and feed him. He ate well, then fell back asleep.

I got up and showered, and at 8:30, I decided to pump again (rather than wake Micah). This time, I was pumping and dressing/applying makeup. Surprisingly, my pump appears to be a morning pump (and for those of you who know me, you know I am NOT a morning person). This morning, the pump did start off mocking me with its usual chorus of "wacko." The mantra slowly morphed into "get a clue." Then . . . perhaps just to mock me with morning cheer, the pump said a few nice things to me, such as "radical," "way to go," and "go for it!" I was so touched that maybe my pump is starting to like me . . . until it decided to call me a "ho' bag." This disturbed me . . . my pump has always been snide, but it descended today into name calling. I must also say there was a brief chorus of "asshole" before the pump remembered it was trying to be nice to me, and went back to singing "ragu" and "get it going." All-in-all, a decidedly improved attitude, and I will forgive it for its brief rudeness today.

Micah will be hanging out with Elliot today - I hope they have a fun day together while I sit here in meetings all day. And, yes, I should be paying attention, not blogging. Back to work . . . .

The pump that really does talk

As many of you recall, I have blogged a few times about my talking breast pump (click here to see the original post). A friend of mine sent me this link . . . apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks her breast pump is talking to her! And now, there is an EnDeare Breast Pump that actually WILL talk to you. . . it features a special button that "can record your baby's voice or other sound to enhance your breastpumping experience."

Hmmm . . . perhaps I'm not as crazy as you thought!

It's not easy being green

Actually, being green is much easier than you might think. Elliot is a greenie . . . as in eco-friendly, obsessively recycling, biking instead of driving, pro-conservation environmentalist. You know, in the Living with Ed sense of the term (and if you have seen the tv show, then you can understand some of my life!). I noticed very early on in our relationship that Elliot did strange things in the name of conservation. For example, when at a party, he tries to avoid eating or drinking from plastic or paper cups/plates/utensils. If he HAS to use a paper or a plastic plate (or utensil), he will either use mine when I'm done (if I let him), or he will take a plate and use it for both his meal . . . and the dessert. If people try and take it from him, he will not relinquish it. He doesn't care that he is putting chocolate ice cream on top of leftover tomato sauce (ick!). While sometimes I find his habits annoying, underneath it all, I respect that he has an intense desire to improve the world and improve our living environment.

I have always been pro-environment, and even before I met Elliot, I took steps to recycle as much as was convenient for me to do so. I tried to make environmentally responsible choices, but know that I did not always do so. As a result of living with Elliot (especially as his green-ness increases with each passing day), I have increased my efforts to be green as well (and I would guess my family members are more aware of their actions and make some greener choices now, too).

About 15 months ago, we embarked on a home renovation project. In fact, we completely gutted Elliot's house to make it more livable. Part of our efforts were focused on "greening" up his house. We improved the insulation, we replaced all the windows with low-e windows, we reused existing trim/floors to the maximum extent possible, we used recycled glass tile for our kitchen backsplash, we used a recycled glass and composite concrete material for a bathroom countertop, we used no-VOC paints (to avoid fumes that could be harmful for us and the baby), we donated and recycled everything we removed rather than dumping it in a landfill, we bought energy star appliances, we installed low-flow toilets and water fixtures, and we installed carpet made from recycled plastic bottles.

The "greening" of our lives applies to more than just our housing materials. As we started down this path, we began to think about different chemicals we use in our daily lives, and how exposure to them would affect us and the baby. Since my pregnancy, we have taken "greenness" to a whole new level. We have made so many changes in the chemicals we use since I became pregnant - we look for low-VOC paints/finishes, we use non-toxic bug sprays, and we try to use healthier products whenever we can. We look to reduce our waste, and we look to buy safe/green/organic products for cleaning and for Micah. We look into using local and organic produce whenever possible. We have acquired several toys from others (reutilization) and we do not throw anything out when we have outgrown they're usefulness - we give them to others whenever possible, or donate to charity. We recycle all the waste we can from all the baby toys (they come wrapped in SO MUCH plastic and cardboard!).

Our biggest challenge we faced in this process was diapers . . . one of the most controversial subjects on babies and being green. It may surprise you to hear that we use disposable diapers. When we had Micah, we considered the whole concept of cloth diapers, and those special "G Diapers" that are supposed to be "greener." We were also concerned about how other people would deal with changing Micah (family members, babysitters, daycare) if we had cloth diapers. Without starting a whole debate here, ultimately, we determined that cloth diapers were not necessarily greener than disposable diapers. The materials and energy spent in creating the cloth diapers and the covers, the tax on the sewage system for dumping and washing the diapers, the harsh chemicals used by most of the diaper services were factors we considered. In Montgomery County, most waste is burned for energy rather than dumped in a landfill, so the diapers we "throw away" are used for energy. G Diapers also tax the sewage system, and we have determined that there are few benefits to the new "green" diapers like 7th Generation (and the new Green Huggies diapers). While those diapers are made from recycled unbleached materials . . . the energy wasted in creating the diapers is the same, and we had a terrible experience with leakage on the 7th Generation diapers. So we have come to peace with our decision to use disposable diapers.

A bit belatedly in honor of Earth Day, I urge you to take a look at your lives, and the health of yourself and your family, and see if there are ways you can "green" your lives, too, and improve this world for all of us! For those of you painting your house (or nurseries), I suggest no-VOC paints. If you are buying new carpet, the carpet padding is often the stuff that is the most toxic - I urge you to consider "green" carpet padding (felt/cloth or wool), and look into recycled plastic carpets (anything made from 100% PET). Consider reutilizing toys and clothing. . . Craig's List is a great place to start. Donate clothing, furniture, electronics, and anything else you are getting rid of (or sell it on Craig's List) rather than throwing it in the garbage. When you go to the grocery store, try bringing your own bags - either re-use the plastic grocery bags from prior visits (and when they develop holes, recycle them) or purchase those canvas reusable grocery bags (or bring your own). Many grocery stores will even give you a $.05 or $.10 credit for each bag you bring, so save some plastic! When you make new purchases, try and recycle as much of the packaging as you can. If you have a new baby on the way, consider the most environmentally friendly way to deal with diapers, however you see fit. When we are out and about and need plastic bags for dirty diapers, I have a bunch of biodegradable bags that I keep in my diaper bag. Look at chlorine-free products, and consider using cloth diapers or other washable/reusable covers on your changing table rather than those throw-away paper covers. Whenever you are considering buying anything disposable (spoons, bowls, etc.) consider whether you can buy something that can be re-used and kept in your diaper bag long-term (this applies even if you don't have a baby - consider not buying single-serving size drinks, and instead keep a refillable drinking mug around). Maybe if we all think about it and make a few changes, we can improve this world just a bit for all of us.

He sits . . . and do pigs fly?

Let's start with the good news! I can't believe it . . . Micah can hold a sit! Over the past few weeks, I have noticed that Micah can sit when he is propped up against something. Every few days, I try sitting him up and moving my hands away for a few seconds to see if he can actually stay put on his own. Over the course of the past two weeks, I noticed that he was able to hold still for longer and longer before flopping over. Then, yesterday, I let go . . . and he stayed . . . and stayed! I called to Elliot, and we were so proud of our little guy. He is definitely able to hold a sit . . . he only flops over if he leans back or tries moving his arms around, but it is a solid start at sitting. Here are a few pictures - sorry they are blurry!



And for good measure, here are my two babies napping together.


Now, on to my more serious question . . . do pigs fly? What I am really asking is whether it is safe to fly right now with the swine flu circulating. I know the government (with the exception of Joe Biden) is saying that it is safe to fly right now, but can you blame me for worrying about bringing a 4 month old on a business trip? I am not so much worried for me - if I catch the flu, I'll be okay. They keep saying the only reason not to fly right now is if you are exhibiting symptoms, but my concern is, can I really trust most of the idiots out there? Today, a plane was diverted because a woman decided it would be smart to fly while she had the flu. How many people did she infect? And are those people on the flight contagious during the incubation period? They really do not know yet. Which leads me to my next point - what if there are asymptomatic infected people who are contagious on the plane - how easily transmissible is it? Right now, it does not appear that the current strain circulating in the US is that virulent . . . but they just do not know. So . . . I am worried, and I wish I knew the right thing to do. Should we drive instead of flying? It is a 10 hour trip, so that won't exactly be easy with a newborn. We would probably try to drive at night so as not to disrupt Micah's schedule. What do you think . . . do pigs (in the form of swine flu) fly, or should we?