We use our X-Box for the majority of our television/movie viewing, so we use an X-Box controller as our “remote”. Del is convinced this must be the greatest thing ever to play with, mainly because he is not allowed to play with it.
But a few days ago, Zach found an older controller, and Mr. D is a happy, happy camper.
My husband commented to me yesterday, “It’s been a whole month since you posted anything on Woah Baby.”
Yikes! So it has.
My monkey is 7 months old!
Today I was taking a peek a blog that is new to me, and noticed the writer-mama posted about a similar gap in her writing about time her munchkin was 6 or so months old. What happens? Well, my guess is it’s movement. Del isn’t crawling yet but he’s clearly working out the how-to in his little brain – practicing the movement from sitting up to hands-and-knees. He bounces in hands-and-knees, then flops to his tummy and roll-scoots around. He also lays on his back and inch-worms – my term for his contortionist backward scoot by way of arching his back and pushing away, head first and blind! His favorite targets are any kind of cord or cable, and any kind of paper. Sheesh.
Another little change is his attention span and his desire for company. In earlier months, he would play for quite a while with a single toy or on the play mat. Now he loses interest in any one thing much faster, unless he has company. So we play together, building cloth block houses or filling and emptying a little box with various toy items. We try out different teethers or take Sophie on adventures. We lie on our tummies and read board books (then one of us tastes board books… not saying who.) Some mornings he just wants company on the floor, so he plays while I knit or fold clothes or take pictures of him.
This is the coolest box, Mom.
He’s also eating more food now – so making food and giving him his little meals is also a new job. I usually feed him in the mornings as I clean the kitchen and make my own breakfast, or in the evening as I start cooking dinner. Carrots (yes, they’re now considered edible!), pears, apples, sometimes oatmeal mixed into fruit, sweet potato, avocado, and the favorite: bananas. My Beaba steamer/blender was a gift from my office friends, and though they chuckled to themselves about me making my own babyfood, I am actually using it and so far have bought no babyfood for Del except some neat little rice cakes for our travels. I love that he is learning to eat real food from the start.
Oh yeah – AND a trip to the beach and a circuitous family trip that included my brother’s wedding! My excuses for not writing much!
Del at Rehoboth Beach
My smart, gorgeous, happy son. We played together for an hour this morning, just trying out one toy after another and talking about them: what color they were, what sound they made, what they were called. I love this.
I forgot to take photos of our visit to the yarn shop, or the mini golf we played together this afternoon, or the pizza making… but here is how my day began:
Nothing better than waking up on a Saturday morning… then going back to sleep.
Happy May Day! Today is day one of a project I am thrilled to take part in for the third time – the annual WordCount Blogathon. Two years ago, a few months in to my first blog, One A Week, I learned about the Blogathon from Amanda. I jumped in and loved it – the goal is to blog every day for one month, as a way to learn more about writing a blog, building content and discipline, and enhancing readership. Turns out, it’s also a huge committment, and I think I wrote some of my most consistent, interesting posts during that time. I felt incredibly proud of seeing it through and succeeding in posting every day. I am not writing at One A Week anymore ( though maybe one day I will) but I do have hopes for Woah Baby beyond chronicling my journey being Del’s mother, and I think the 2012 Blogathon will help me move in the direction of meeting them.
What are those goals? Foremost, Woah Baby, like anything I write, is a response to the urge within me to just write. I love doing it. It feels good. Secondly, Woah Baby is a way to interact and communicate with others – friends, family, and new friends who arrive here for reasons other than that they know me. I like people. I like their stories almost as much as I like my own. I like conversing, and a blog is an interesting way to engage in topical conversations on subjects that interest me. Third, Woah Baby can be a resource. I would like it to be a destination n the vast web of information and ideas that inspires, empowers, calms and collects women of a certain mindset. If something I say can help another mom make a decision, or feel good about a decision she has already made for herself, I will be happy. If Woah Baby can persuade another mom to try something new, I will be happy. If Woah Baby can enlist the support and feedback of awesome women who are not moms, I will be happy. And frankly, if Woah Baby could in any way produce some revenue, I would be happy.
So, goals: express, engage, empower. Three tidy words that sum up where I would like to go with this blog. And I have the best inspiration ever in Del. And the best support ever in Zach. All I need now is 31 interesting ideas and the minutes necessary to turn them into posts.
Welcome to the 2012 Blogathon.
So we’ve reached the magical 37 weeks. Red Bean can come any time he or she is ready! After a couple of weeks “taking it easy”, I was thrilled to have beautiful weather and a long weekend to spend with Zach.
Weird dried fish in the Jamaican market!
We spent all day Saturday out walking. He took me to one of the weird and cool places we have here in DC – the Florida Street Wholesale Markets. I think that’s what it’s called. It’s a bunch of warehouses selling largely wholesale foods and produce for restaurants and corner stores in DC. Several sell retail to the public as well. Since the markets are spread out, we walked around several blocks and strolled through all the weird ethnic places – filled with dried fish, grains, rices, flours and spices of all kinds, meats both familiar and unfamiliar. I bought four perfect mangos in one market, and elsewhere, several kinds of lentils and peas. We finished up at the coolest Italian market, Latteri’s, where I loaded up on canned San Marzano tomatoes for sauce, some pastas and six bottles of wine. Continue reading
After my nerve-wracking last prenatal visit, I was happy to learn that I’m measuring no more than 1/2 cm larger than I was two weeks ago – which is to say that while measuring 35 cm at 30 weeks was a concern, measuring 35 1/2 at 32 weeks supports the likelihood that Red Bean had a growth spurt a couple weeks ago. I had a chance to read the sonographer’s report and discuss with the midwife, and she felt there was nothing to worry about – she said even if Red Bean is “a big baby” when birth time comes, big babies get born all the time. That’s what I like to hear. Everything else was great too – me and the Bean are doing fine.
We have our 36 week home visit scheduled for the week of Thanksgiving, and next weekend will order our birth kit – the supplies we have to have on hand for the birth.
Finally, don’t forget to “like” Woah Baby! on Facebook or leave a comment on the giveaway post – tomorrow afternoon I’ll put all the names into The Randomizer and announce a winner! And thanks a million, Robbi and Matthew, for announcing our giveaway on Idiot’s Books blog!
Technically it’s not too late. But is Columbia Heights really ready for birth as art?
Brooklyn is, apparently. Performance artist Marni Kotak, in an attempt to upstage me and my little blog, will be giving birth live as an art installation. Her exhibit “will allow art fans and other curious onlookers to watch and wait with Kotek over the next five or so weeks, as she waits to push out her little bundle of art.”
Marni believes the events of real life are far more interesting than anything anyone could manufacture for a performance. She would also like her, uh, audience, to bring her favorite snacks when they come to see her: Nutella on rice cakes, and potato chips. Given the wild popularity of birth videos, I’d say she can expect an eager crowd. I think I’d like to add an exhibit to that gallery: “Pregnant Woman watches Other Pregnant Woman Give Birth As Art”. Zach will be performing too: “Bored Man Eats Pizza Outside While Pregnant Wife Watches Other Pregnant Woman Give Birth As Art”. Who needs tickets to Book of Mormon when REAL LIFE is happening in Brooklyn?
Anyone else want in on this?
Pintrest: what’s interesting to me today?
