Seattle, part 1

At the beginning of January we were lucky enough to take Penelope on her first plane ride up to Seattle to see Grandma and Grandpa Bill, Grandpa and Grandma Peggy, and meet her Great-Granddad! We stayed with my mom and Bill in Coupeville for the first half of our trip and the second half we stayed in downtown Seattle at the Hyatt (fancy shmancy!).

I was a bit stressed about traveling with a baby for the first time. I had visions of those families with so much crap, an anxious mom and children screaming their heads off. Luckily we weren't those people, at least I hope we weren't. Penelope did really well on the flight! I nursed her while we took off and she slept the majority of flight. I think she slept a little too long during the flight because trying to nurse her while we were descending was like trying to tame a wild beast. Arms flailing, legs kicking, giggling and smiling at everyone- nursing was a lost cause. I was worried about the altitude change hurting her ears but I eventually lost the battle. She was well rested and ready to party. Penelope 1, Mom 0.

My mom and Bill threw a house warming/Penelope party the day after we arrived. It was wonderful seeing everyone and showing off our giant Penelope. She wasn't too sure about all the attention at first but it didn't take her long to get comfortable. More people meant more people who could hold her hands while she walked around the house. Score! 

Here are some of our adventures from the first half of the trip, pictures from the remaining half are soon to come:

Taking a walk in the Austin airport before boarding.

 Hanging out with Grandma in Coupeville.

Penelope's first taste of a table. She wanted me to tell everyone they are delicious.

 Penelope's first ferry ride!

On the way to Friday Harbor, San Juan Island.

One bundled up baby.

Penelope loved walking around with Grandma and Grandpa Bill.

Baby Food

Last Thursday was a big day in our household -- Penelope had her first solid food.

 

I have been so excited to begin making Penelope's baby food and the time has finally arrived. We decided to make her own food so we know exactly what she is eating. None of that processed, chemically injected, filler crap for my baby. No thank you. She will also have a primarily organic diet. We haven't, however, decided whether or not Penelope will be eating meat or not. I was a pescatarian (only meat I ate was seafood) for 4 years before getting pregnant, I couldn't give up sushi. Before getting pregnant Aaron and I both experimented with veganism for 6 months, it was the healthiest we have both felt. Even though we felt good it took a lot of work. We had to cook every meal from scratch and read every single ingredient label. And at this point in our lives we simply don't have the time for veganism between work, school, and caring for Miss Penelope. But if we decide to give her meat it will be in very small quantities on rare occasions. Its just another one of those 'just wait a see' circumstances of parenthood. There seems to be a lot of those.

 

Of course we videotaped Penelope trying her first food...oatmeal!

She is hilarious. That child is pure entertainment. She kept gagging which of course made us laugh hysterically.

 

 I'm having a hard time upload pictures so its just videos for now. Hopefully I can figure out whats wrong...

 

 

6 Month Update

Before I recap the past 3 months I thought I would catch everyone up to date on Penelope and her developments.  On Sunday she had her 6 month birthday! We were traveling back from Seattle but made sure to give her extra kisses and sing her 'Happy Birthday.'

 

Today was her 6 month check up with the pediatrician and we are pleased that she is as healthy as can be. Here are her stats:

 

Weight: 18 lbs 14 ounces - 94th percentile

Length: 27 inches - 90th percentile

Head Circumference: 17 5/8 inches - 96th percentile

 

...yup, still a giant Penelope.

 

She can sit up unassisted, roll over, scoot backwards, and walk with assistance.  She puts everything in her mouth to chew and drool on. Her Great-Granddad introduced her to the spoon which is her new favorite restaurant menu item. She is still exclusively breast-fed but we will be starting solids in the next few days. She is most happy when she is walking. We think she will walk before she crawls - turns out crawling isn't a developmental milestone anymore so there is no problem with her skipping it. We usually hold her hands while she stomps down the hallway but for Christmas Santa brought her a Radio Flyer walker. This video was taken yesterday and is of her walking without our assistance for the first time, needless to say we were amazed:

 

 

And we're back!

I bet everyone thought I had fallen off the blog planet but here I am.  Its been almost 3 months since my last post.  I wish this wasnt the case but between Penelope, work and school I have little time for anything else.  When I do get a free moment to myself I dont want to have to think at all, thus my addiction to the Bravo! channel. Damn you Real Housewives of Atlanta/Orange County/Beverly Hills, Shahs of Sunset and all the other trash shows I find myself watching.

With school starting back up I will have less time for anything outside of Penelope, work and studies.  I dread going back to school.  But this upcoming semester I am going to attempt to keep up with this blog.  Not only does it keep friends and family updated with our adventures but its nice to reflect upon.  Time has never gone as fast as it has since having Penelope.

Yesterday we sang Happy 6th month Birthday to Penelope on the flight back to Austin from Seattle.  I cant believe its been 6 months! I have a 6 month old! Weird.

Tomorrow I will post an update on everything that has happened in the 3 months that I have been away from blog land. 

At the breast

These have been the fastest 3 months in my entire life. Maybe its the sleep deprivation, maybe its watching our Penelope grow out of infancy (just writing that makes me want to cry). But I sure have learned a lot in that short amount of time. No amount of reading or researching can prepare new parents for the journey (or at times nightmare) they are about to begin. Being a mom is a thousand times harder than I imagined, but lets face it I was COMPLETELY ignorant to the amount of work I thought it would be. But it is so worth it.

Breast feeding has truly surprised me as one of those "harder than it looks" situations. Baby is hungry, pop a boob in her mouth, baby wont stop crying, pop a boob in her mouth. It sounds all rainbows, and unicorns but its not. To those who have never experienced it before and think its just sitting on your butt all day while holding a baby, you couldn't be more wrong.  It has been said that breast feeding is the equivalent to jogging 7 miles per day, add a giant Penelope into that scenario and I'm a damn marathon runner.  On a regular night (no growth spurt), Penelope will wake up 2 or 3 times during the night to be fed.  If she is having a growth spurt, which seems to happen far to often in my opinion, she wakes up every 2 hours.  Needless to say I have been a sleep deprived zombie for basically her entire existence.  And with sleep deprivation comes bitchiness.  Poor Aaron, poor dogs, poor cats.  They are just innocent bystanders who I unleash fury upon for no good reason at all.

 

Breast feeding in public is also something I had to get used too.  The very first time I did it I was terrified and literally had to talk myself into it.  I kept telling myself that I need to be a strong, positive role model for Penelope.  How could I fill those shoes if I ran home every time she was hungry? Our first experience was at Starbucks, good ol' Starbucks.  Penelope and I were out running errands and Aaron wanted us to meet him at Starbucks, where he was studying.  Penelope was, of course, hungry.  Surprise, surprise.  So I took out my Hooter Hider nursing cover and fed my baby for the first time in a public place.  Aaron, like usual, was my biggest support.  Nothing about it was graceful, it was mostly awkward as I maneuvered her body around mine while trying not to expose myself to the entire Starbucks world.

 

As time has gone on, Penelope and I have gotten the hang of nursing in public.  We are like old pros now.  And with this experience has come a much more relaxed mama.  While it may or may not be a good thing I don't worry about whether or not I am flashing the goods to anyone.  I simply don't care.  I am trying to feed my baby, that's the most important thing.  Yes people stare at breast feeding moms for whatever reason.  I guess it makes some people uncomfortable.  Not my problem.  I just stare right back at them.  I have found that everyone wants to stare at boobs, that is until a baby is attached to them and then for some reason it becomes weird and even gross to some.  Isn't that what they are there for? Last time I checked they weren't made for push-up bras and low cut shirts, they were made for babies.

 

Our first time nursing in public. It was such a big deal I needed a picture to commemorate the occasion.

(8/16/2012)

Parent Decisions

Updated Giant Penelope Stats:

Weight: 13 lbs. 9 oz. (80th percentile)

Length: 24 in. (75th percentile)

Head Circumference: (90th percentile)

 

Today Penelope had her first real appointment at her pediatricians office.  She had her last and final check up at the Birth Center at 6 weeks old.  We were supposed to take her to the pediatrician between 8-9 weeks but we were uneasy and scared. Who is scared of the big bad pediatrician? We were.  Well not the doctor personally but the health care system in general.

 

Vaccinations. I know its a "hot topic" and people usually believe in one way or another, whether to vaccinate or not.  Aaron and I take the health of our child very serious, like all loving parents do.  We decided on a natural birth for the sole reason that we didn't want Penelope's tiny (or giant) body to come into contact with any drugs of any kind.  Once we made that, easy enough, decision I didn't realize we would have to make such a hard decision so soon after birth.  To vaccinate or not, that is the question.  The midwives at the birth center told us of the pros and cons but ultimately it was our decision.  Like all decisions, we have made with regards to Penelope, we researched the shit out of it. I lost sleep because of it.  What if these vaccines negatively affected my baby? What if they changed her? What if she contracted an illness that could have been prevented with a simple vaccine? I could never live with myself.  It still sends me into anxiety mode when I think about it.  Aaron and I both felt damned if we do, damned if we don't.

 

I forced myself to make the appointment.  That way we would have no choice but to make a decision.  There would be no more putting it off.  Aaron and I decided on a delayed selective vaccination schedule.  What does that mean?  Well, it means spacing out the vaccinations over a few of years instead of a few months.  It also means we opted out of a couple vaccinations we felt were unnecessary, especially for an infant. 

 

I don't judge those who vaccinate and those who don't.  Parents make the best decisions for their families.  I feel that the route we choose was a good medium ground.  We both feel great with the decision we made.

My New Body

I have been toying with the idea of writing this blog.  Should I? Should I not? Is it revealing too much to the world? Is it that important? Will it embarrass me?

Yes! It is that important! And yes it might embarrass me but it shouldn't and that is why I decided to write this.  I am trying to do things I normally wouldn't do out of fear or shyness and this is completely out of my comfort zone, so here we goooo...

This post will entirely be focused on the post-pregnancy belly, or "Jelly Belly" as I like to call it.  We all saw pictures of my ridiculously large belly which housed an even bigger Penelope.  Lets face it I looked like I might fall forward at any second, and probably not be able to get up.

Before I go in depth on this post I should give a little background.

Growing up I was always very skinny and athletic, even though I ate like an obese man.  I never really paid much attention to my body until after high school.  An interest in the fashion world, as well as a few other life experiences, initiated a distorted body image.  I was a size 0, creepy skinny, yet thought I was fat.  Any jiggle of my thighs would set me off.  Drinking water to feel full, eating a small salad as my only meal for the day, running 5 miles per day, etc.  I could go on and on.  This very unhealthy lifestyle lasted on and off for a few years.  Distorted body images and eating disorders aren't something that you are ever cured of.  I like to describe it as a constant radio with the volume on low.

Since I am the first one of my closest friends to have a baby I had no idea what my belly would like once Penelope came out.  And to be honest I never really gave it much thought.  It never really crossed my mind.  But from the looks of me at 40 weeks pregnant, it wasn't going to be pretty.  The day we went home from the birth center, which was the same day I had Penelope (yay!),  I looked like I was about 5 months pregnant but it was a weird pregnant.  It wasn't the rock hard baby belly I was used to, it was in fact, the complete opposite.  Thus, the birth of the Jelly Belly.  It felt like I swallowed the biggest bowl of Jell-O and it just planted itself in my stomach.  When I walked it wiggled.  When I laughed I looked like jiggly Santa Claus.

Now, at 2 months postpartum, I still have my Jelly Belly.  Its gotten significantly smaller and not as Jello-y.  I still cant button my work pants so I use my MacGyver-ing skills with a rubber band.  Some days I wish I had my flat stomach back but mostly so other people don't think I am still pregnant.  But the majority of the time I like my belly.  Now that's weird to say.  But when I look down and rub my belly it makes me smile.  That was Penelope's home, where she grew strong and giant.  

Yes my thighs, butt, and belly have gotten a bit thicker.  Yes I had to buy all new bras and some not-so-tight dresses.  Yes some days I silently wish for my old body back.  Yes some days that radio is louder than others and silencing it takes some work.  But I love my new body.  I finally feel like a woman.  Aaron also tells me how beautiful I am every single day, he loves the newly added curves.  He is my biggest support.