Bathing Beauty

Well, we survived Florida!

Again with the firsts! Meli was the consummate traveler, which made her travel loving father very very proud and her crazy mama very very grateful. First and foremost, I flew drug free. I can’t tell you how HUGE this was for me. I took every precaution though – lots of pumped milk (which I proudly threw away when we got home – it was totally bad by then!) and a new Xanax prescription – none of which was needed. The flight down Sunday was delayed by weather – and when I say delayed I mean we were next for take off when an incredible storm came through. We were literally on the plane, on the runway, when golf ball size hail started falling all around us with 60 mile an hr wind shears and super lightning. I’m not kidding. It was a freaking monsoon. Then we saw the most gorgeous rainbow ever and took off. Craziness. Here we are on the very uneventful flight home:


I swear, my head’s not that small and my arms aren’t that big.

We flew Jet Blue and since my daughter is a bona fide couch potato, she either did this:

Or this:

I gotta say, if I’m not flying first class, Jet Blue is the best. They’re all extremely conscious of the runway debacle last year when people sat for 8 hrs so you are guaranteed not to be sitting on the plane more than three now. And all they do is apologize for the delays and come on all the time to update you. And there’s tv. Lots of tv. Which makes me feel like I’m sitting in my living room – at least sort of – and not like I’m stuck on an airplane. It was a very nice experience.

Florida was HOT. Stifling. Unbearable. But the baby definitely enjoyed the pool.



Meli is usually pretty good when she takes a bath, and the pool was no different. She was quite calm in the water. Besides the pool, we went for a quick dip in the Gulf of Mexico (water temp: 89 degrees F – my kind of water temp.) We can’t wait until she’s old enough to really enjoy the water. Both her dad and I love to swim.

She was quite the Kool Kat by the pool!


We went to Florida for a birthday party for a friend who hasn’t been feeling so well, and while we were there Baby Meli got to meet Big Meli! And she took a few pictures for us!


All in all it was a very successful visit. Incredibly stressful, but successful. I’m so glad to be home. But that doesn’t mean things will be quieting down anytime soon. Next week is my sister’s annual 4th of July visit with her kids which can only mean there will be much fun and everything will be crazy hectic!

I hope to pop in before then. While the death of blogs – or at least knitting blogs – seems to be on everyone’s mind these days – I still love mine and intend to keep it going. I hope you’ll stay for the ride!

Thank you!
L, C

The Exact Opposite of Relaxing

Earlier this week I wrote that my one wish for this weekend was to relax. Not go anywhere. You know – stay home and veg with my guy and my gal. Alas, it is not to be.

Tomorrow we are going to Florida. Yes. We’re getting on a plane with our baby and heading south.

We’ll only be gone a couple of days – we fly back Tuesday – and our reasons for going are both good and bad (everyone’s okay.)

Like I said. The exact opposite of relaxing.

If I make it through the flight without popping a Xanax I may actually be cured. With all of these phobias dropping like flies, Annie says I will have completely lost my edge and be yet another suburban mom driving a station wagon wearing mom jeans.

So I made sure I scored a few Xanax from the doctor. I mean, carrying around narcotics in the diaper bag definitely makes me edgy. Wouldn’t you say?

Wish us luck. Maybe you can relax for me.

Family Resemblance

Last night my daughter slept nine hours straight, from about 10 PM until 7 AM.

I promise you, I’m not bragging.

More than anything, this feat makes me a bit sad. I used to love waking up to nurse her in the middle of the night. It was always so quiet, just the sound of her swallowing and her heavy breathing and Georgie’s breathing beside me. Everything was calm and lovely. I never minded it at all – no matter what the hour and how little sleep I had before she woke. The first smiles came in the middle of the night. Same with the first coos.

Now it’s just Meli and her dad snoring away. I sometimes wake up, but she doesn’t. She’s growing up. Growing away. I’m being a tad melodramatic, I know, but it’s true. Everyday she does something new and better and that means I’m doing my job well, but it’s not lost on me that doing my job well means that one day she won’t need me – as much – I hope she will always need me for something.

It seems so long ago I was pregnant. So long ago that she was first born. It’s true the whole time flies thing. And yet I can’t wait until she’s just a little bit older when she can do this or that or the next thing. A conundrum this parenting thing. Definitely a conundrum.

Meanwhile, she’s been sleeping in her swing for an hour and a half already. Put herself to sleep there sucking on two fingers. Woke up once, but quickly fell back asleep. I pumped (one day I’ll talk about pumping) and took pictures to prepare for this post and now I’m writing it. I’m experimenting with this nap thing. So far so good! I feel like a new woman with all this free time! YAY!

Anyway, last night my sister was telling me that the pictures I took of Meli the other day reminded her of some of my baby pictures. I thought I knew which ones she was talking about and it turns out that I have them, and they are of me at pretty much exactly the same age Meli is now. The date on the back of the pictures is April 10, 1970. You all remember my birthday, right?



(Sorry for the shitty pictures. My scanner’s broken and this is the best I could do!)
What do you think? Here’s Meli again, in case you forgot what she looks like:


Unfortunately, I don’t have any real baby photos of her daddy, although the resemblance is definitely there. I have to confess, I was so relieved when she was born – relieved that she looked like us. From the minute I saw her there was something familiar about her. There was a picture I had in my head – a picture of me as a baby – that I thought was totally like her and I had my sister find it in my house and bring it to me in the hospital.


I was six weeks old in those pictures. That’s my mom holding me. Here’s Meli – maybe a week or two old:

This may seem odd to you, but given how Meli was conceived – an IVF cycle followed by a Frozen Embryo Transfer – it was really important to me that she look like us. Maybe some of you out there who did fertility treatments will understand, but I’m so glad there’s a family resemblance.

Lots of people will tell me she looks just like me and lots of people will tell me she looks just like her dad, but I think she’s a perfect combination of the both of us.

And now she’s up. Which is really really nice because I’ve missed her.

Three Months, One Week

For the past few days I’ve been writing a post in my head. It was all about how I’ve been restless lately – maybe even a little bored. Meli is such a dream to take care of and don’t get me wrong I’m loving every poopy diaper and every late night feeding, but I still am having a hard time carving out some time in the day to do stuff. Nothing fancy – just stuff that doesn’t involve holding a baby. I miss knitting. I miss blogging. I miss having a creative life outside of Mommy-ness. I think it’s worse because she is so easy. It was going to be one of those posts, so be glad it’s most likely not going to happen.

Of course, then, yesterday she actually took a nap in her swing and I was able to clean up a bit and we had a fabulous photoshoot and I was even able to process the photographs.

Meli is doing great! She had her three month appointment the other day and she’s now 12 lbs, 24 inches which puts her right smack in the middle of the charts. Fifty percent across the board. And yet she seems so big to us. She’s doing so many things – talking all the time. She can lift her head wonderfully:



Although tummy time still ends like this:

We’re still taking our long walks most days and usually she sleeps, but she’s also become incredibly fascinated with these two little toys attached to her car seat. She can stare at them one – going back and forth between the two – for an amazingly long time (for a three month old!) and she gets so animated, talking to them and kicking her feet. She loves to kick!

I’ve been trying to get her on video but every time we turn on the camera she clams up. Seriously. She’ll be talking and laughing and on goes the camera and nothing. Turn it off and she turns it on again. Little stinker!

One thing she does that I just love is wring her hands. I’ve been calling her an old washerwoman – you know – wringing her hands – woe is me. My kids never call. The sky is falling. But then a few people actually said it looks like she’s knitting! And these were strangers who don’t know me at all! What do you think?





Maybe it’s too hard to tell from pictures. I’ll try to get some video – if Meli will cooperate. Another thing she just loves to do is chew on her fingers. She’s been putting her fingers to her mouth since she was born, but now she can actually get them inside. Occasionally you can hear her slurping away on her fingers. She seems to prefer them over her thumb. But not really in any consistent way. She’s still a paci girl.


Now that she’s entered the Golden Age of Babyhood (all smiles, more sleep, still not mobile) I’m going to try hard to put her down more. She never liked the sling very much and she’s good in the Baby Bjorn for a limited amount of time now that I can turn her out, but it’s still awkward for me. I also think some of my crabbiness has come from being out too much. We were in Philadelphia three weekends in a row. (Twice Meli and I drove by ourselves! Cross another milestone off the list!) I’m so looking forward to doing NOTHING this weekend. Maybe some pool time. Maybe some knitting. I still haven’t been able to seam those sleeves on her little sweater. Even if we just sit around as a family. That would be enough.

I leave you with more pictures of my girl. Thanks, as always, for indulging us. We so appreciate it!





All is well!

Just crazy crazy crazy! In a good way! Today I was able to get about an hour to myself for a pedicure and everyone survived! YAY!!!!!

Tomorrow the baby and I are off to my sister’s for a fantastic flip-flop themed five year old’s birthday party and we’re going to stay for a couple of days.

Meli is doing so well I can hardly stand it! She’s talking all the time, well, babbling, but the two of us have very deep conversations by making gurgling sounds. We stare into each other’s eyes and discuss everything under the sun. Have I mentioned my daughter is a genius? And she holds her head up so, so well. She’s kicking and squirming and on Wednesday she’ll be three months old. Can you believe it?!? I can’t wait to see how much she weighs and how tall she is at her appt next week. My honey girl! She’s INCREDIBLE!

I’ve haven’t seamed her little sweater yet because I figured out that I can successfully knit with a baby in my lap – I’ve already started two more projects – a sock and a new sweater for her – but I can’t quite sew a seam. Especially sleeves I have to maneuver into an opening. Also, I lost knitting. It kills me to write that but it’s true. I can’t find two projects – most likely they are together – anywhere. The last time I saw them was at the hospital when Meli was born and I’m 99.999% sure they came home with me, but now? Now they’ve disappeared. I can barely talk about it, it makes me so sad.

But everything else is great. I will be back with better posts next week! PROMISE!

Eye Candy Baby!

I’ve never really been a part of Eye Candy Friday, but today I couldn’t resist!


The baby sweater I’m knitting for Meli is thisclose to being finished. All I have to do is sew in the sleeves and the ends and add some super cute buttons.

Hopefully I’ll have all the details for you next week, in the meantime, there’s lots more candy after the jump.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

More cuteness if you can stand it!

[Read more…]

Aunt Syd

Don’t everyone plotz all at once. Yes. I am indeed posting two days in a row. I’m hoping to make this blogging thing a habit again. It’s too good not too.

This is my Aunt Syd:

Really she’s my paternal grandmother’s first cousin, but I’ve always known her as Aunt Syd. Her real name is Sarah (maiden name Guggenheim. Unfortunately no relationship to the rich ones.) and I think the story is when she married her second husband she changed her name to Sydney. His name was ALSO Sidney. So they were always Aunt Syd and Uncle Sid.

I remember Uncle Sid as kind of curmudgeonly, but I didn’t know him very well. Aunt Syd, on the other hand, is one of the nicest, sweetest, most loving people you will ever meet. Dead honest, but not a mean bone in her body. She’s a teaser too. Somehow my mom and her got pretty close, and I did too I guess because I usually go with my mom when she goes to visit her in the Bronx, where she’s lived all of her life. So yesterday my mom came up and Meli got to have another first – a birthday party for Aunt Syd, who turns 98 on Saturday!

Aunt Syd can’t see very well and she can’t hear very well and she told us over and over again how old she’ll be on Saturday and how she doesn’t understand how she got to be this old! She never imagined it would happen! But she’s still got all of her faculties. And she just LOVED the baby!

I remember having lunch with her one year and she was telling us a lot of family stories, which I just love to hear by the way, and she was saying how she was her parents’ first born and that her mother had many many miscarriages after her. Like maybe some astronomical number – 15? Something awful like that. She thought probably there was an RH Negative factor that was causing all the losses, but for what it’s worth she was an only child. Which is why she was so close to my grandmother and my aunts, but especially my Aunt Syl.

Aunt Syl and Aunt Syd were very close in age and Aunt Syd never had children (her first husband died young and I don’t know how old she was when she married Uncle Sid) and my Aunt Syl never had children either – she married my Uncle Al pretty late, so I’m sure the two couples spent a lot of time together. (Although honestly, I can’t see how my Uncle Al and Uncle Sid got along – two different people you will never meet! But my Uncle Al was sweet as can be too, so maybe that’s how.) I miss my Aunt Syl very much. She died when I was 19. We used to celebrate Christmas and Easter at their house in Pennsauken, NJ because my Uncle Al wasn’t Jewish and whenever we left she always gave us a little bag of treats for the car ride home. And you could always count on Aunt Syl having Canfield’s Diet Chocolate Soda. Thank god for my Uncle Al because he had cable tv! The first time I ever saw MTV was at their house!

Anyway, I named Meli after my Aunt Syl. Her middle name begins with S (although it’s not Sylvia. I would’ve loved to have named her Sylvia – can’t you just see a little girl running around in a flower dress with someone calling after, “Sylvie! Sylvie!” Yeah. Georgie couldn’t see it either! But that’s okay, I love our little girl’s name.) And in Hebrew, I named her Sarah. Nothing formal, but I know that her Hebrew name is Sarah, as was my Aunt Syl’s. And my Aunt Syd’s. They’re named after the same relative. So it was important for me that Meli meet Aunt Syd, and that my Aunt Syd know I named my daughter after her favorite cousin.

When we left Aunt Syd’s apartment and were waiting for the elevator, I told my Meli that she had done a Mitzvah. The first, I hope, of many in her life.

Firsts

Can I tell you how many blog posts I’ve written in my head lately? I miss it so much and it’s not because of any sense of obligation – although I do feel that sometimes – it’s more that I have a lot to say. I’m too tired to find the words and when I have them, I’m usually no where near a computer.

I’ve been thinking a lot about firsts lately. Sort of a no brainer now that I’m a first time mom. Everything Meli and I do together is a first – and truly everything she does is a first and she’s the first born daughter of a first born daughter of a first born daughter. Kind of cool, no?

The last few weeks have been FULL of firsts for me and my girl:

— We took our first train ride together! It was a big success and we even met another little girl on the train who was EXACTLY a year older than Meli. Seriously – same birthday. Isn’t that a hoot? And everything about the ride went off without a hitch. Although watching the other little girl squirm around and want to run free told me we won’t be taking the train once Meli’s mobile. Too much trouble.

— Meli thoroughly enjoyed her first sleepover with her cousins. It was a huge weekend for firsts – first time in Synagogue. First Bat Mitzvah. First time meeting some of her cousins. FIrst ballet recital (watching, not dancing, of course.) It was a really good weekend and I’m excited to spend time at my sister’s more often. Now that I know we can sleep over successfully, I think we’ve got a lot of fun times ahead this summer.

Then we came home and it was even more firsts!

— Meli made her first trip out to Long Island to visit her FAinLI. This trip was VERY significant in that I drove us out there – by myself. I know I’ve talked about my anxiety and panic on the blog before and one of the ways it’s manifested itself in the past is that I hate to drive longish distances by myself – especially on highways. I’ve had bad panic attacks – so bad I’ve pulled over on the side of the road and waited for someone to come get me. Hence my love of trains. But since I got pregnant and Meli’s been born, my anxiety and panic have really regressed. I still get anxious, but I don’t have the time, energy or inclination to indulge it anymore. In a lot of ways, my past anxiety was a luxury. That’s not to say I don’t have a mental condition that predisposes me to anxiety and panic, it’s just that I can harness all my skills to control it and my life is such that I’m able to control it better than ever. Which is just a really long way of saying I drove out to Ann’s by myself and it was totally fine. I had my moments, but they quickly disappeared. The real REAL test will be if I can drive down to Philly on my own – and when I say on my own I mean with my most precious passenger.

It was quite an accomplishment for me, and also it was really natural. Something’s changed since Meli was born. My psychiatrist thinks I’m cured – he says I’m the calmest he’s ever seen me – and he’s known me for fifteen years (which in Woody Allen years is a lifetime!) It’s like I used up all the craziness trying to get pregnant and worrying about getting pregnant and what would happen once the baby was born and then I got pregnant and I stopped being so crazy. Crazy, huh?

Okay – what other firsts? It was Meli’s first time around animals – dogs to be precise – and honestly – I don’t think she noticed. No matter how cute those pugs are. She went to spinning guild and didn’t seem all that interested in the spinning. Although I really miss it!

Then we came home and found out that three days later we were going on our first family ROAD TRIP! And getting a NEW CAR! We needed a new car once Meil was born because fitting the seat in the back necessitated us moving the position of the seats in the front – not a comfortable ride for G or me. And of course, the one car we wanted could only be found in Vermont. After two months of searching for the car, we didn’t really want to wait for it to be trucked down and when the dealership told us we could drive one of their cars up to Vermont and switch it out with our car, we jumped.

The best part? Our trip took us right past Yarn Mecca. Literally! I told Georgie we just HAD to stop. So Meli and I took our first trip to WEBS!!! How cool is that? I emailed Kathy, one of the owners, before we went and she was so gracious taking us around the HUGE shop. When I tell you this is the biggest yarn store of all time – that’s only scratching the surface. I know I didn’t see all that was there – no way no how. Thank you Kathy for helping me out!! It was great to see you and I’m so glad we got a chance to stop in! Of course I bought stuff – I’ll try to get pictures to show you – but don’t count on it. (Sadly, I took no pictures, but Kathy has photographic proof of our visit on her blog. Thanks again Kathy!!) b

We ended up in Montpelier – hungry and exhausted. We made the trade and LOVE our new car!! The next day we decided to do a bit of reminiscing on our way home and stopped off to show our daughter where we got married.

Georgie and I were married almost seven years ago on the court house steps in Newfane, Vermont. It was just the two of us and our jp. Gotta love Vermont! No witnesses necessary and CHEAP! If you’re ever looking for a place to elope – Vermont’s got it all over on Vegas.




It was a beautiful, beautiful day. The sky was as blue as the day we were married, but it was much cooler. Just a wonderful memory and it was made even sweeter by our daughter.

I mentioned how much I love my new car, right? Here she is!

A Volkswagen Passat Station Wagon. In Mocha. I learned how to drive on a brown Impala station wagon so this is so much fun for me. The best part though is that G and I can sit in the front seat together (i
n the other car, with the car seat, one of us drove (obviously) and one of us had to sit in the back because of the way we had to adjust the seats to fit the baby seat.) Oh my god we were all like holding hands and stuff. So nice! And the back seat is HUGE! LOVE THIS CAR! Did I mention how fast it is too? Faster even than the fast car. LOVE IT!

Last but not least, on Memorial Day, my girl had her first dip in the pool!!

I guess she kind of liked it because she didn’t complain at all and the water was FREEZING. Don’t worry, it’s not like she went for a swim or anything, we literally just dipped her toesies in and got them a little wet. Can you tell how big she is?

And how cute is her little bathing suit and matching sun hat?!?!?!

I ask you – is she not the cutest thing ever?!?!?! Don’t you just want to eat her up?!?!


It’s officially summer!

I’ve got another first coming soon – my first baby sweater for my girl. I’ve got one more tiny little sleeve and then I have to seam it together. I can’t wait to tell you about this sweater and I promise PROMISE it won’t be long before I’m back again.

Miss you. Love you.
C

Sleepover!

Meli and I are heading out tomorrow for our first weekend away! We have a family event to attend on Saturday and will be staying with my sister for the weekend. To say Meli’s cousins are excited is just about the understatement of the century. Me? I’m excited to bring my knitting! There will be lots of people wanting to hold my baby girl – free hands! YAY! (Cece is coming along slowly but surely. Maybe I’ll have a progress picture next week.)

I’m not used to this whole baby traveling thing, so I’m a bit nervous. We’re taking the train down and while usually I’m packing my bag three seconds before I leave, there’s lots of stuff I need to take. Dresses for her, and me, and packing for two. Logistics have become high priority.

Anyway, I’m so tired and I haven’t even started getting ready. Just wanted to pop in and let you know we’re good since the Friday post won’t be coming.

Have a great weekend everyone!
L, C & M

If I’m blogging…

it must be Friday. Seems to be happening once a week and on the day that most people aren’t reading anymore. Oh well. I write blog posts in my head all day long but I can never seem to make it to the computer.

Some things I’ve been thinking about:

— Did I ever tell you that I woke up the first day in the hospital to find a dead ladybug in my bed? I found that to be a VERY auspicious beginning!

— Also, during that first night, about 3AM, my daughter was crying and I was comforting her. I said, “It’s okay sweet girl, Aunt Cara’s here.” Stopped myself dead in my tracks. I wasn’t the aunt anymore, was I?

The other day I read this post of Norma’s and this post of Wendy’s and these ideas have been floating around in my brain. The other day on my walk (the new schedule is working out GREAT!) I made a mental list of what I am and what I’ve been.

I am a DAUGHTER. SISTER. AUNT.

LOVER. WIFE.

FRIEND.

I’ve been a STUDENT. LIBRARIAN. WRITER.

PHOTOGRAPHER.

Very recently I was a BLOGGER. And a KNITTER.

Now? Now I’m a MAMA.

One day I’ll reconcile all those capital letters with the biggest capital of all but for now this is my life and I’m having a better time than I ever could’ve have anticipated. I miss all those capital letters, it’s true, but lowercase suits me fine for now.

knitter. blogger. wife. friend. MAMA.

The photographs were taken last Friday and on Monday, Meli had her 8 wk appt and weighed 10 lbs, 8 oz! YAY Mommy Milk!