Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2014 in review

We are elated and grateful to have a healthy and happy son and to be going through this new chapter of life together. What could be better?

Words for the year

“partnership” – Sometimes it feels like every shower, workout and minute of sleep (etc.) requires the buy-in of the other parent.
“instincts” - It's easy not to notice our instincts until they are at odds with our intellect. Two examples of these (stressful) moments that come to mind for me are trying to work remotely while someone else cares for your 3 month old and letting him cry in the car because you know you have to get somewhere.

Dwellings, Jobs and Money

We moved to our first (and last?) two-bedroom apartment in May. It also has two bathrooms so we upgraded to a cat genie self-cleaning litter box!
We got our building permit for our futurehouse [link]. Jack put in a lot of hours, amid the regular business of life.
I got a promotion at work and am fighting the mommy track.
We are enjoying some rare, debt-free time before taking on a construction loan.

Family and Friends

Surrounding D’s arrival, we were in touch with pretty much everyone we know, which was wonderful. The birth itself was great [link].
We’ve made new friends [link], especially through PEPS.
Along with my family, we finally scattered the ashes of my grandma, grandpa and uncle.
Our parents have become awesomely helpful and enthusiastic grandparents.
Emo continues to impress us with her supreme feline patience. D is all over her.

Becky and Alyson threw us a sweet baby shower [link] and we’ve received so many gifts of time and thoughtful baby things.
My sister and B.I.L. visited from Boston in the fall. I call this picture “Northwest Family Living.”

We celebrated 7 separate family Christmases [link]
D’s first road trip was to attend a cousin’s high school graduation in Idaho.

Weddings and Babies and Milestones

R&A in Honolulu [link, link], K&M in Montreal [link]
2014 babies: cousin Helen to A&R, Ahsoka to B&F, cousin Zach to J&A, Harper to T&J, Jimmy to E&R, Eloise to Y&M, Claudia to S&J, Lincoln to S&K, Logan to J&D, Drew to R&J, Jack to K&B, Aria to E&J
Jack turned 30!

Recreation and Travel

Jack tied for the highest number of walks (at bat) in the PSSBL. He plays smart!

We upgraded to a 4-person tent, which we used at Larrabee State Park, in July. We did one nice hike there [hiking report 4].

Near Mount Rainier, we camped with Cari’s extended family.

We wrested our family pickle ball title back from Jack’s uncles, in the summer.
D, Cari and Janet flew to Boston to visit D’s aunt and uncle [link].

Books, Events and Food

Best books read aloud: The Little Blue Truck has been read quite a bit, but I’m going to have to go with the third, fourth and fifth books (Young and Revolting, Revoltingly Young, Son of Youth in Revolt) in the absurdist fiction series about Nick Twisp, written by C.D. Payne.
So far, D, is a great eater. He just needs some teeth.

We went to a summer M’s game, complete with good friends and a fireworks show [link]

The best live entertainment, in a year with relatively few contenders, was a recent night at Comedy Underground, thanks to Groupon.
Jack “discovered” the pleasure and utility of audiobooks, after years of hanging around me…

Personal Growth

I seem to add new foods to my edible list at a rate of one per year. This year I added shrimp and prawns, though I’m not ready for legs yet. I also ate, and liked sardines.
Having a baby has vastly increased my dependency on my phone. Staying in touch with Jack and care providers is way more important to me than most communication, and while breastfeeding I have increased my time spent reading, texting and shopping on my phone by a factor of 100.
We finally grew up enough to have a standby chicken recipe that I made numerous times. It’s a yogurt, lemon, parmesan, panko topping on oven-baked chicken breast.
We conquered some fears including birth and sleep deprivation. We are tired but even at the worst moments, it hasn’t been as bad as I worried it would be.
The inhibitions I used to have about singing in front of Jack are kaput. Babies require lots of songs!

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

For Christmas, Jack's dad and step mom, gave me a very thoughtful gift of an underwater mp3 player. I used it yesterday and it was great. Swimming is good in many ways, but it can get boring and I definitely felt more energized. Hopefully this will help me work up to longer workouts.

So, now, when I swim, I wear:

a swim suit - Because, obviously.
a cap - I have to get special long hair caps for my large cranium.
prescription goggles - I just got these in the last year or so. They work really well and weren't expensive.
prescription earplugs - I've relied on these since I was about 13. While, I don't wear them for "social" swimming, they are essential for athletic swimming where I have to turn my head just so. I might have outgrown the frequent infections that prompted the plugs, but now they're just a habit.
an mp3 player - It uses bone conduction, to pump music into my ears through my cheekbones. How cool is that?

Note that I do not have, not do I intend to acquire, any pictures of myself wearing all of this paraphernalia. Just use your imagination and be glad I don't wear a nose plug...

Sunday, December 28, 2014

D’s first (seven) Christmases

[♬ sing to the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas, substituting a full name for “D” ♬]

At the first family Christmas, our darling son Dxxx, talked with ONE younger cousin.

At the second family Christmas, our darling son Dxxx, thrilled TWO cooing aunties.

At the third family Christmas, our darling son Dxxx, ate THREE new foods (scallops, asparagus and cauliflower).

At the fourth family Christmas, our darling son Dxxx, wore FOUR types of dinos.

At the fifth family Christmas, our darling son Dxxx, walked FIVE holes on the golf course.

At the sixth family Christmas, our darling son Dxxx, scored at least SIX points with his jersey.

At the seventh family Christmas, our darling son Dxxx, stood up SEVEN times (or more).

Thanks to all of our wonderful PNW families for a busy but lovely Christmas. We’re lucky to have you.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

holiday crafts

I enjoy arts and crafts from time to time, but we don’t have the space or style to display a lot of artsy homemade stuff all the time. Holiday decorations are the perfect solution, giving me lots of seasonal satisfaction without the permanent clutter.

This year we painted a “first Christmas” ornament for D, which is on display on our wreath. Some day we’ll get a tree, but for now, a fresh wreath does the job.

I also used circular needles for the first time to make a stocking for D (of course). It was a lot of fun.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

on pregnancy weight

A few weeks ago, I reached my pre-pregnancy weight. It was a nice thing to see on the scale, but since it is still pretty far from my target weight, it was also a bit anti-climactic.
There's a lot of talk about pregnancy weight, but I found most of it to be supremely unhelpful. What follows is my two or three cents on the subject.
The total - I know a lot of new moms now, and most everyone I have talked to has put on more than the recommendation. These are educated and moderately (if not more) active women. This isn't really a surprise, given that so many of us struggle with our weight even prior to pregnancy. My peers don’t smoke like previous generations did, which probably throws off some stats. It also seems to me that some of the most active women put on the most weight because they aren’t able to keep up their normal exercise habits.
But what gets me is the recommendation. For my pre-pregnancy weight, I was told 15 pounds would be good. Has anyone ever put on that little? It would mean that you'd be essentially losing weight as you gain weight.... It felt so far out of reach as to be irrelevant and various medical professionals threw out that number without much conviction.
The rate - The linear weight gain graphs are pretty useless. The reality is as curvy as, well a pregnant lady. Here’s what my graph of gain and loss looks like:

The measurement - Given that so much emphasis is placed on the number on the scale, you'd think that it would be measured accurately, but it is not. To keep my sanity I weighed myself at the same time in the same conditions, at home and tried to ignore the post-lunch, fully-clothed numbers at my appointments. The difference between those two numbers was easily more than 10 pounds in a single day. This really bugged me.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

a few ASL signs

For the last few months we’ve been trying to do some signs with D. The idea is that he’ll be able to communicate with signs long before he’ll be able to speak intelligibly. We would love it if grandparents tried to use these same signs too. So far we use “milk” and “more” most often and I think he might be understanding them.

These are links to short videos of a few signs.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

PEPS is the best

In Washington, we are fortunate to have access to a phenomenal parenting support organization called PEPS. It matches up families by babies age and neighborhood and the first 12 weekly meetings are facilitated by a volunteer. After that you’re on your own.

I have read many articles about the isolation of our modern lifestyle and know from my time moving every few years that making good friends can be a real challenge. Another great article I read, but sadly can’t find again, presented a recipe for friendship, pointing out why it is often hard to make new friends in adulthood. PEPS follows this recipe perfectly. It offers:

Common interests: Babies are a big deal and we have lots to talk about. We also joined a moms and dad’s group, meaning the other people in our group are also very interested in equal co-parenting and moms continuing their careers.
Proximity: I love traveling such a short distance to get together and we get great ideas and recommendations for nearby activities and restaurants.
Repeatability: One of the things I miss about school is seeing the same people so regularly and work friends are nice, but I do the motivation for some separation between work and my social life.
Vulnerability: Parenting is rewarding and challenging. Talking about it at a deeper than superficial level gives an excellent chance to get to know other people.

Obviously, no one should go out and have a baby in order to make friends, but I highly recommend that anyone who is having a baby find a way to join a group like this.

Here are two pictures of our babies from a few months ago:

Monday, November 17, 2014

swimming fun time

I love swimming. In my own, non-extreme way, it has been part of my regular life for as long as I can remember, so it’s important to me that D learn to swim well enough to feel comfortable in the water. We’re doing “lessons” with some other families we know. Jack could use the practice too :)