Sunday, August 25, 2013

Tasting, tasting, 1, 2, 3...

On Saturday, August 24, year of our lord 2013, Espen Camino Eld Mathis tasted his first carrot, cucumber and kale.
It was a day of hard "K" and easy gumming at the fine organic/vegan/gluten free cafe' Harlow on 36th and Hawthorne.

After reaching, pawing, and grabbing for edibles with great conviction for the last two months, we placed the Holy Kale in his paws to see what would happen.



The carrot and cucumber were equally magical, though when I had to fish out a piece of his carrot shaving from his mouth, he was less than euphoric.


I'm pretty certain he doesn't know how to chew or swallow yet, but he's ready to give it a whirl.

Behold, Espen, on the cusp of solid food. Majesty. Glory. Magic.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

He grabs his toes and hates naps

I am writing this now listening to my astrological profile while listening to The Bear protest against his nap which he very clearly needs.

Yesterday he learned how to grab his toes and has been obsessively kicking his feet, grabbing them, and looking very pleased with himself.  There are so many things changing these days, so many new skills and milestones that it's no wonder sleep seems like the last thing he would want to do.

On top of that, he's also rearing and bucking around alot with nursing throughout the day...and forgetting to let go of my boob.  This is sort of like having a chinese torture chamber on your nipple that refuses to let go.  When the gravity of his head finally pulls him off, I swear you can hear the 'pop'. True.

Days like today remind me that sometimes the line between pleasure and pain is very fine indeed.  It is good to remind myself that I am in a situation entirely because of my actions so whether I enjoy the result or not, it is up to me to make more of the same or try something different.

The traction we had gained in easier bedtimes has been lost in the trauma of naptime and nothing really seems to be working consistently. I have tried to stick to an "Every two hours from when he wakes" schedule, but unless I want to let him cry for an hour straight, that philosophy doesn't always work.  Then we end up in an endless spiral of waiting an hour and trying again to see if he'll go for it this time.  Add that on top of a distractible eater and well, it could make the days abit, ahem, challenging.

Oh, The Bear loves being awake and playing, it's just the going down for naps and eating that he's not too keen on.  So right now, it looks like the sleepless starvation philosophy is what The Bear prefers. Unfortunately, I've got the dubious task of helping him discover the art of compromise. So far what we have landed on is 10-20 minutes of crying unless he miraculously passes out on the boob at one of the lucky feeding sessions that last longer than ten minutes.

As all good parents know, and to be honest, I'm starting to think that anyone who doesn't swear and cry  at their children are good parents, we just want our kids to have as gentle an experience of life as possible.  Some days this seems much closer than others.  Still, when Espen flashes his "MOM, you RESCUED me!" smile, I just want to keep him awake and feed him on sunshine as long as he wants. Lordy Lord.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

My baby is awesome (er than all the rest)

Ok, moms out there know what I'm talking about. Dads too. We're all pretty sure our baby is the Supreme Incarnation of All That Is Amazing and Good.

But mine really is.  He has so much hair he makes boy bands look sad.  He giggles at four am when I pick him up in a dead cry and then chuckles contentedly to himself as I hold him.

He has dance moves that Michael Jackson would be jealous of.
He hates hats and isn't afraid to let you know.

He can lift whole baskets of toys BY HIMSELF.

He is cute with and without clothes on.

His poop even smells sweet.

So come on other parents out there. Let's see what your baby has.  I don't want to be elitist and sit on this Mt. My Babe Is FUCKING RAD alone. Do your worst. Or best.

But don't say I didn't warn you about the steep competition.

The Bear is on the Adwarable Path and he's taking names.