Here Goes Nothin

Here I go. I'm posting a photo... of me... of the baby. ACK!
I am well worn and not at all made up in this photo, and it wasn't the most well thought out moment, but it's still one of my favorites. Hub snapped it in our kitchen before running off to work closer to the end of my 9 week maternity leave. Baby and I had woken up not long before and were having a sleepy, lovey morning. I love how soft the light and our faces are. He's wearing pink because that's Elizabeth's sleep sack. He's a modern baby. Speaking of Elizabeth, we received the play silks that I won in Jen's contest in the mail today. They're beautiful! Photos coming probably in the next few days or so.

No One Likes Blogging About Blogging, But It's What I Got

I think I have writer's block. Work has been quite stressful. The lovey has been only sleeping well off and on, and I'm just tired. I have this burning need to write. I want to write, but every time I start in on one of my ideas, it fizzles here on the screen. bleh. I want to write about how I was taken aback at the fact that it's not only your life, but your reality that changes with becoming a parent. I want to write a bit about understanding cries and why don't they talk about that when discussing "cry it out." I hope to get to them. What I know is that I will get my act together in time to write my baby's 8th month letter. Eight months. Holy shit man.

No Rest for the Weary

My baby has a really awful digestive system. No poop again yesterday and lots of crying/belly trouble last night. No more stage 2 food combos for him. :( Poor baby.

Thinking of Crowing About Your "Just Relax" advice?

Have you seen the hubbub about the IF/stress link study? Thinking about gloating? Read this (and the comments) first. So well said.

Safety First Complete Air Review

A month or so ago, I managed to get the Safety First Complete Air car seat for $99 at BRU. It had been on my list of possible "good" car seats, but the amazing deal sealed it.

We've been using it for about a week and so far so good! I had heard it was difficult to install, but I didn't find it so. The main issues are to make sure it fits in your car and to be sure you are installing it following the instructions. It fits in both of our cars (Civic and Focus), but surprisingly it fits in the Civic better. It fits best in the middle in the Civic and either the middle or the passenger side in the Focus if the seat is pushed pretty far up. There is a groove on one side of the seat that needs to be aligned with the level ground. Once that is attained, it's pretty simple, (if using the latch system) to push down on the groove in the seat (not the seat itself or you'll mess up the alignment) while pulling on the belt to tighten. The instructions say you can use a swim noodle or rolled up towel to prop the seat while you tighten it to maintain the proper tilt. This confused me until I actually did it. Basically, if you have the flat part of the car seat aligned completely with the backseat of your car, it's not tilted properly. There will be some open air between the seat bottom and the back seat. That's where the swim noodle could go if you need it. Just remember to remove it once the seat is tight. - CORRECTION: You can leave the swim noodle or towel under the seat to give it something to rest on.

I find the belts for restraining baby much easier than in our old infant seat. They also seem more comfortable for E. The seat itself seems very plush, padded, comfy and safe. E reclines in it like he's ready to watch a movie. We worried that the head padding on either side would hinder E's vision and annoy him, but so far he doesn't seem to care. We haven't used the cup holder yet, but I'll let you know how it works when we do. It doesn't seem too sturdy, but since the whole seat is a win, I think we can live with that.

So far the main drawbacks I've found have been how large it is (but since it's convertible and can be rear facing to 40 lbs, I don't mind), and that it is a little trickier to install tightly and properly than an infant base. However, I feel far more comfortable with him in that seat.

Play Date

E had a play date today with the wonderful SoBee from Down But Not Out. They're both finally at the age where they can appreciate one another almost equally. There were lots of hugs and kisses from SoBee and lots of besotted smiling and flirting from E. E even seemed to try to curry favor with SoBee's Dad (despite his strong anti-man stance), probably thinking that if he did, his bid for her hand might not be denied. Ah babies.

A Hub and Baby Story

Not long after E was born, Hub was gazing adoringly at his sweet face. He turned to me and said something to the effect of, "Isn't this amazing? I mean, I was ok if we didn't have kids, but now I'm so glad you really wanted them and kept trying. It's awesome!"

I said, "Mommies are programmed to know that it's going to be awesome sweetie. That way Daddies get to experience it and the human race goes on."

And P.S. Baby says "Mama." Melt.