Alliclaus has finally decided to recognize who the heck I am. This is certainly a nice change from the constant yelling of "Popper" whenever Andrés leaves the house to, you know, work and support our family. For awhile, she seemed like she was getting it. She called Andiclaus "Popper" and if prompted, she would repeat that I was "Momnee." It wasn't perfect, but most of her language skills require at least a little bit of translation, so I was feeling pretty good about it.

Now, she's asking for me and pointing me out in pictures unprompted. It's pretty awesome. Except that apparently Momnee required too much effort, so I am now Mon. I'm really not prepared for my kid to go from Mommy to Mom, but I'm definitely not all about the referring to me as Mon. Hopefully, as the speech gets better, we'll go back to Mommy. Or at least Momnee.

She's got some other words coming on that are less exciting to hear. While I'm positive that she hasn't yet picked up any of my swear words, she is frequently saying "cock" and "fuck" when referrring to trucks and frogs. And because she knows I'm mortified, she says it over and over again. Relentlessly. I think I'll try to teach her other words to refer to those things. Like toad instead of frog. Who needs zoological accuracy when you can avoid immense humiliation?

Well, the weekend is here. Talk to you on Monday.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 10:24 AM | Comments (4)

A few pictures for the holiday.

These were taken in the church nursery on Sunday. It will likely be the only time she will wear the Christmas dress. Luckily, I waited until Saturday to buy it and therefore got it for, like, ten bucks.

And here's a quick picture from this morning. Alliclaus' aunt and uncle sent her a rocking horse for Christmas. She's still a little too short for it, but she likes to rock on it.

See you tomorrow!

Posted by Bethiclaus at 10:02 AM | Comments (3)

Did I say everyday? I guess I meant every weekday. Huh.

We were beginning to be concerned about Alliclaus' speech delays. At 18 months, she was only really saying two words and they changed from week to week. She'd seem to learn a word and then the next week she wouldn't know the word, or at least she wouldn't say it.

In any case, it seems that we were concerned about what amounted to a regular developmental delay. Alliclaus has been a few months delayed across the board on most stuff, so I don't know why I let the speech delay worry me so much, but we're enjoying a wonderful speech explosion at this point.

It's funny. I've read tons of mommyblogs where they lay out an inventory of their children's words and I've always found it fun, but I can't bring myself to do one. For me, it just seems like a chore to write it all down. However, I'm not above giving you a small sampling of my favorites.

• Fairy (free-ree) - Alliclaus has a number of fairy Christmas tree ornaments that she likes to identify
• Papa (pop-per) - For some reason, that "r" just cracks me up
• Whoa. Are you okay? (wo-yo-kay?) - When Alliclaus was first walking, I had to work very hard to have a shake-it-off attitude, so I turned to this phrase whenever she fell. Apparently it sunk in, because she not only says it to us if we slip or fall, but she also says it to herself when she falls. I love it.

She mimics us a lot now. It's probably about time for me to start focusing on cleaning up my act. Nobody wants a baby who swears at the grandparents.

I'm so excited that tomorrow is Christmas. We've never stayed home for Christmas before and while I'm sad that I won't be seeing my friends and family, it turns out that not traveling for the holiday has left me with an amazing lack of anxiety surrounding these last few weeks. Plus, my in-laws are taking all the kids to Disneyland this year, and I can think of nowhere I want to be less the week between Christmas and the New Year than Disneyland. (In truth, there's almost never a time when Disneyland is not the last place I want to be. I have a heart of stone.)

I'm desperate for the next couple of weeks to come and go and for this baby to be born already. This pregnancy has been super-easy, but the heartburn the last two weeks has been unbearable. I'm not sleeping at night because of it and am having trouble eating for fear of it.

I have some pictures of Alliclaus in her Christmas dress that I need to pull off the camera that I'll probably post tomorrow. (After all, why take pictures of your kid if you can't use them for a complete cheat of a post on a holiday?) I'll see you then.

Alliclaus says, "By-ee."

Posted by Bethiclaus at 02:11 PM | Comments (5)

I'm in my first class of the morning and will be here all day (Exodus and Contemporary Theology), but I realized I haven't given you guys a chance to oooh and aaah over Alliclaus in awhile. These snaps are a couple of months old, but they're very cute and they're better than nothing, right?

Enjoy.

And since Contemporary Theology will include feminism this semester, this photo seems particularly timely.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:01 AM | Comments (8)

Alternate Title: Watch the pregnant girl go completely irrational

At Alliclaus' 12-month well-baby checkup, she was in the 15th percentile for weight. This was no big shock since she has been on the very wee side pretty much since two weeks after her birth. So imagine our surprise at her 15-month checkup (scheduled because of her very large head - we must ALWAYS measure the head) when she was in the 57th percentile for weight. And because there cannot possibly be a checkup where nothing is wrong and everything is fine, my pediatrician wanted to weigh her again in a month to make sure that the weight increase was an isolated incident.

So today I compiled my list of questions and put Alliclaus into the very hot car in order to drive halfway across town to find out that, no, it wasn't an isolated incident and that instead she is now in the 71st percentile for weight. This, combined with the fact that she has been sleeping WAY a lot lately (like 15-17 hours a day) and that she has been incredibly thirsty says to me that she is going through a growth spurt. To my pediatrician? Something could be wrong with her thyroid or kidney function. So, heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to the lab we go. I'm going to see if Andrés can take her Wednesday morning while I'm at work.

But that's not really the point where I got completely irrational. That happened when my pediatrician said that he thought that this was probably just childhood weight gain.

"Like normal weight gain, or like childhood obesity weight gain?"

"Well, we need to be aware of childhood obesity, because her mom's overweight, her pediatrician is overweight, her nurse is overweight. It's a societal issue."

Now I know that he called both himself and his nurse out on their weight. I also recognize that it is a FACT that I am overweight. But, seriously? WTF? My daughter's doctor called out my weight!

This is completely an irrational thing about which to be upset. But I have the crazy hormones and I am unable to just let it slide. Also? I don't know how you prevent a child from being obese while also encouraging a healthy body image and this is possibly my worst parenting fear realized. (To clarify, a fat child is not my worst fear. The struggle for healthy body image is.)

My sister-in-law is struggling with a young daughter who is significantly overweight and I have been totally judgmental about it in the past because I hear my niece (who is only six) tell people that she's too heavy. And I realize now that it must be very hard to limit a child's food intake without them realizing it.

Luckily, Alliclaus is still very little and hopefully we'll be able to limit her food intake without any psychological impact on her. I think I have a better idea now of how much food she should really be getting and now my main concern is just that we will have a great deal of crying at the end of mealtimes, but hopefully that will be short-lived.

***

On a completely unrelated note, I have a suggestion for my husband's new store. If your ladies' restroom is massively huge and you have nothing but empty wall space, you should totally check out changing tables. They're all the rage, I hear.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 03:48 PM | Comments (7)

in her tantrums. We had a full-hour tantrum during our flight to Chicago for BlogHer. To be fair, we had rushed her afternoon nap (she didn't ever fall asleep), then raced to the airport to find out that our flight was two hours delayed. By the time we were airborne, it was already past bedtime and she was not messing around. Our flight attendant was a freaking Nazi and wouldn't let Alliclaus sit however she wanted. Needless to say, I was dangerously close to chucking her out the window at 30,000 feet.

Anyway, I'm getting ready to start my first break-out and was lucky enough that Kim came and sat near me since otherwise my social anxiety would have prevented me from ever saying hi. Ah! I talked to her about Harry Potter! And her son! And I didn't burst into flames. I'll write more later!

Posted by Bethiclaus at 10:21 AM | Comments (7)

My child may not be so lucky.

She woke up this morning with a fever, so I know that I should have some sympathy for her. But, my God. I think she's still trying to recover from the San Diego trip, but she's all Daddy all the time and, as it turns out, Daddy works.

Her first temper tantrum of the day started as Andiclaus was walking out the door and lasted for 45 minutes. 45 minutes of back arching, kicking, throwing, hitting tears. Over what, you ask? She was mad that I threw away my lunch trash instead of letting her play with it. Kill me now.

In any case, she's down for a nap at this point and I will be damned if I am going to get her out of that crib one second before her scheduled naptime is over.

I guess I should tell you what's been going on at the North Pole. Time for bullets!

• The flight to San Diego was every bit as bad as I expected. My sweet girl bit me at one point! (The nerve!) But the trip back was infinitely better, as there was an empty seat next to me. Shout out to everyone who convinced me to throw my general food rules out the window for the duration of the flight. So what if she ate half a box of Goldfish crackers? I'm sure the sodium will work its way out of her system by her next doctor's appointment in September.
• Baby shower in San Diego was AWESOME! And I ate TONS of gorgonzola in these tasty little potatoes (a caterer threw the shower) and didn't even worry about the baby. (With Alliclaus, I used to crave huge Greek salads. I would eat them, with all their feta, and then cry for days, convinced I had killed her with listeria. Hormones.) Plus it was wonderful to see Memo and family. I think I came the farthest, but there was no prize or anything for that. Unless you count being repeatedly asked, "You FLEW here for a BABY shower?" as a prize.
• Attention San Diego and Las Vegas readers: Heather from Peanut Photography is a close family friend of Memo and Sarah and was at the shower. We had met previously (and I have admired her work), but had never spent much time talking before. Her kids are 25 months apart, so we had stuff to talk about and it was nice to meet another mom friend. Additionally, it pays to have a cute kid. The last day we were in San Diego, Heather asked if she could photograph Alliclaus. Of course I said yes. The photos were amazing. I'll have to figure out if there's a way for me to post some of them. She works from Vegas, but does beach sessions in San Diego a couple times a year.
• My carpal tunnel has kicked in earlier with this pregnancy than it did with the last one and finishing my myriad baby blankets (three of which are for babies already born!) is becoming more difficult. It sucks. The end.
• I guess maybe I never really said it here before, but I am going to BlogHer next weekend. I am very excited to sit down with Sarah and figure out which sessions we'll attend. Also, to go see Wicked again (we're bringing the spouses this time). Last time I saw it, I was pregnant with Alliclaus. Maybe my kids will just know a good story from their uterine exposure.
• Speaking of just knowing, Sarah and I have one of those weird friend "things" where we say people "just know" fill-in-the-blank. It started when my high school dance teacher said, in front of Sarah, that I "just know tap." I'm not a tapper, but I follow directions well. So the basics aren't a big deal for me. I guess that's what she meant. It turns out, though, that Alliclaus just knows aunties. She had a general distrust of everyone except my mom, who she just spent tons of time with less than three weeks ago. But when she saw Memo and Sarah, she immediately went to them, in spite of the fact that she hasn't seen Memo since Christmas. She knows who brings the fun, I guess.

I'm sure there was more stuff I wanted to tell you guys, but seriously, we're 45 minutes into the nap at this point and? I have to do homework!

Posted by Bethiclaus at 02:24 PM | Comments (8)

Alliclaus has a few words in her vocabulary, although she doesn't use them very frequently. However, she loves onomatopoeias. Loves them! Words she can do without, but noises? That is where it's at.

She has recently discovered head voice and her new favorite sounds are all originating there. Whenever something falls to the floor, or there's a loud noise she doesn't expect, we get a "Mm-uh?" Super high and freaking cute.

She's been doing dog noises for awhile (guau-guau - all animals speak Spanish in our house), but she's recently decided that Salem is talking to her and that she should respond. "Miau." Currently, her cat noise sounds more like "mau," but sometimes she gets the "i" sound in there. It's super high and she's super excited to share it with us at every available moment.

So this morning, she totally slept in (and by slept in, I mean that she slept until 6:30 or later, which is awesome) and I took a shower and got ready for work without interruption. Salem (who doesn't get to come into bedrooms in our home anymore since he has decided our bedrooms are essentially well-decorated litterboxes) was sitting outside our bedroom door meowing. Up until this point, neither Andrés nor I had even heard Alliclaus stirring in her crib, but we heard clear as a bell through the monitor, her little voice say, "miau." No fussing or stirring. She just heard Salem and responded. She did it over and over again as I finished my morning routine. It was all I could do to force myself to go to work.

She's also started walking (just a day after her doctor's appointment), but only if we trick her into doing it. She's always so proud of herself once she stops, but is then suspicious of any movements we make. And really, who can blame her? We're shady characters around here.

Incidentally, the ultrasound is this morning to figure out when this baby is coming and to make sure it's alone in there (oh, it better be). I'll keep you guys posted if anything eventful happens. My guess? The relative lack of morning sickness with this pregnancy is to blame for the ridiculousness of my belly. Throwing up twice a week is SO not as good a weight maintenance plan as throwing up twice a day.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 07:52 AM | Comments (5)

I'm still not remotely close to finishing the work for my two-week intensive I finished last week, but the actual attendance portion is over, and for that I am grateful. The early-pregnancy exhaustion combined with the additional four hours daily of out of the home time wiped me out. I spent every free moment sleeping.

Alliclaus weaned herself from the breast this weekend. She just decided she was done. I offered twice a day for the first two days, but she wasn't interested. So, there you go. All done. I haven't seen any significant shrinkage, but I'm guessing that can be contributed to the pregnancy. I'm really grateful that it ended this easily; I was not looking forward to a weeping-and-gnashing-of-teeth-style forced weaning before the NEW Fefe arrives.

I haven't been too sick this pregnancy, although the morning sickness has gotten more frequent in recent weeks. I am, however, ridiculously pregnant-looking, making it more and more difficult to hid my pregnancy from the HR department at my employer (where my department is under close scrutiny). I'm getting more and more used to the idea of another baby, although it would be inaccurate to describe myself as excited just yet.

We've been telling Alliclaus about the new baby a lot and (although I don't think she actually understands the full extent of what we're saying) she seems to kind of "get it." She's started rocking her baby dolls and cooing at them. It's very sweet.

I feel like so much has happened since last I blogged, but I don't really have anything to say. It's been two rather uneventful weeks. Alliclaus has a checkup on Wednesday, where her doctor will undoubtedly tell us that (shocking!) she has a large head. I think he's going to recommend a second CT scan and possibly occupational therapy (since she isn't walking independently yet). That should be a fun appointment for everyone involved.

Well, I think this may be the beginning of a return to the blog, so I shall see you soon.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 08:08 PM | Comments (6)

When this whole diaper burn incident started, I knew it was something I fed Alliclaus. Then the doctor said virus and I believed him. Then I went back to thinking food. Now, I'm pretty sure she's actually sick.

Generally, Alliclaus has one or two dirty diapers a day. Today, every single diaper was a crazy mess. Andiclaus changed her before her nap, then after her nap. Then she wouldn't go down for her afternoon nap and while she was fussing she pooped again. So I changed her and put her back down. I must have been delirious because then her diaper leaked all over her crib. Then she had the scariest diaper she's ever had that had whole lima beans in it.

It's almost impossible for a single person to change Alliclaus' diaper at this point. We can't do it on the changing table, because she is bucking herself practically off the edge. We can't really get her clean except in the bathtub.

I honestly feel like I'm not going to make it another day, and I really just want to go back to baby food and see if it will clear this all up.

I promise this will be my last post about diaper rash. Tomorrow I'm totally going to brag about how I'm finally (!) losing weight. Also, possibly a book review. It's of my favorite book so far.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 07:32 PM | Comments (7)

Much like Zoot's experience with allergies, I am now suffering the karmic consequences of rolling my eyes when other mommybloggers cried diaper rash.

Oh, come on. How bad can it be? It's a rash.

Um? Why didn't you guys explain?

Alliclaus' morning diaper change was fine. Everything was normal. Then, while I was at work, she refused to eat breakfast. Andiclaus finally gave in and put her down for her morning nap. She slept for less than an hour. Andiclaus got her up and after finally getting her to eat breakfast, he changed her diaper.

She had loose stools (TMI?), but what was shocking was what he found once he cleaned her up. She was completely red and inflamed and was BLEEDING! Whu? You guys did not warn me about this!

Because he wanted to check out what was going on with the bleeding(!), our pediatrician had us come in. Apparently, her skin is burned from the pH of her stool. (Did you know that could happen? I most certainly did not!)

We made it more than a year without a single diaper rash. I have to say that I'm a little bit concerned that it's related to her diet. Until a week ago, she ate primarily organic baby food. At her 12-month checkup, the doctor was very firm that she should be eating whatever we're eating.

But Andrés is Mexican-American. We eat a lot of, well, flavorful foods. Even when we aren't eating salsa, there's a lot of acidic foods in our diet. The doc was pretty sure that it wasn't the table food that caused this, but instead some type of bug she picked up somewhere.

Every diaper change is now a new adventure in torture. I'm having to use this crazy udder ointment on her that the doctor swears is not the same as A&D. He told me, "It's going to burn when you first put it on." Oh. Well, great. Since she's already screaming and all.

Since you didn't tell me this could even happen, I now believe that you are responsible for telling me how long it will last.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 06:49 PM | Comments (12)

It's hard for me to believe that it's been a year since Alliclaus came home with us. I can't really remember much about what life was like before her, but she still seems so new to life.

The first few months after Alliclaus was born are mostly a blur. I was on quite a bit of pain medication and, though Alliclaus slept through the night on her second night home, I had quite a few sleepless nights worrying about breastfeeding.

When I look back at my posts from this period, it's strange to me how vague I sound. I think I must have been afraid to write down how I was really feeling.

Alliclaus rejected the breast completely. Pumping was pointless for me, since I never produced a significant amount of milk for the pump. I was taking herbal and pharmaceutical medications to increase my supply, but it didn't seem to be helping.

In an attempt to increase my supply, we were waking Alliclaus every two hours to breastfeed. Breastfeeding was taking at least 45 minutes, most of which was spent trying to keep Alliclaus awake. In the hour and fifteen minutes between feedings, I would pump, wash the pump gear and try to mentally prepare myself for the next attempt.

I began to dread the next feeding and would cry all day. My mom would hold Alliclaus because I couldn't do it. Everyone told me I was suffering with postpartum depression, but I couldn't see it.

Truth be told, I'm still not entirely sure that it's fair to call it PPD. I was upset about something real (the feeding of my newborn), not simply hormonal and sad.

Look! Denial! Awesome!

One day, we gave up. I wasn't going to do it anymore. I stopped pumping that afternoon. We gave Alliclaus formula the rest of the day.

The next morning, I regretted the whole thing. (Oh! The deception of a rested mind!) I knew that if I tried one more time, I could make it work.

As if Alliclaus knew it was last call, she decided to go for it. We didn't have any more rejection after that, but I never really had enough milk for her to grow.

So for a year, we've been combining breastfeeding with formula. And then, literally overnight, the bottles and formula were gone. There are straw sippies and whole milk taking their place. And Alliclaus is eating all the same foods we are.

It's freeing, really. And it forces me to make healthier choices for myself. I expected to feel sad about these moves toward independence. And I would be lying if I said I'm nothing but ecstatic. It's a little sad that she's growing up. But mostly I'm excited.

Every day, I know her better than I did the day before. And who wouldn't want to get to know this sweet girl?

Day 1

1 Week

1 Month

3 Months

6 Months

9 Months

1 Year

Posted by Bethiclaus at 11:58 AM | Comments (7)

Whenever I don't blog for awhile, I really feel obligated to come up with some major excuse or at least an awesome blog post when I come back. I don't have one. I've been stressed about life in general and it has led to my inevitable and unannounced blog hiatus.

I kept reading while I was gone and even commented (but not very frequently). You guys are having great adventures. I love to read about them.

Anyway, while I've been gone, Alliclaus turned one. Apparently, it's true. Time waits for no man.

It's been okay and I'm going to write about it (relatively) soon. In the mean time, you can check out the pictures from the awesome Ladybug Party. While I know you all think Alliclaus is supercute, please also notice the awesomeness that are the refreshments. Rebecca photographed them and now I feel like I could cook for a living. Check it out. As always, Rebecca comes highly recommended (by me!) for any Kansas City area families.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 07:44 AM | Comments (8)

Um, let's pretend I totally posted all last week, mmkay?

No captions tonight, but I should have a book review up tomorrow morning.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 08:39 PM | Comments (8)

Well, my class is officially over. Our presentation went well. If anyone is interested in the topic of the sacramental life for the LGBT community, I would highly recommend William Stacy Johnson's recent book A Time to Embrace. It was endlessly useful to our entire group.

While I've been in school, Alliclaus has been up to no good. Okay, she's been up to some good, but also some bad.

She's been biting and hitting my mom and pitching temper tantrums. She's doing it late in the day, so I think (and so does my mom) that she's probably just done with not having me home. These two weeks, she's spent close to ten hours a day without me. That's a lot of her, since normally it's less than five.

But she's also been using her hostility to master some skills. She's getting up to a seated position by herself and is pulling up to stand on things not human. Not only does she know nose, she now has some sense of what an ear is. Maybe.

I've been told before that it happens really fast. One day your baby's a blob and the next they do twelve new behaviors a week. I guess I just didn't think it would happen while I was away.

I've been living my life in blissful unawareness of the dangers of my home, but I guess it's time to start babyproofing.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 10:02 AM | Comments (6)

Alliclaus always goes through major milestone development periods when my mom is in town. It's amazing what having an extra person in the house will do for her. Especially a person who doesn't have much else to do. A person who has plenty of time to play.

Andiclaus has been playing with Alliclaus each morning. He points to her little nose and says, "Nose...nariz...nose..." and he'll point to his nose. I'd heard them do it many times, but never really paid attention. I've been so busy getting ready for class each morning.

So busy, in fact, that I missed it for two days. Missed what? Alliclaus knows nose.

"Where's Mama's nose?"

*points and smiles*

She's also figuring out hair (or at least bangs).

I'm amazed to see her learning new things. This skill is particularly fun because it is so interactive. The skill seems to bring her closer to me.

Alliclaus still isn't truly crawling. She mostly army-crawls at this point. But I'm fairly certain that situation will be remedied by the end of next week. I want to say I'm happy about it. Truth be told, though, I've been feeling kind of sad about it.

Since Alliclaus has remained so small, it's easy to forget that she's ten months old yesterday. It's time for her to be growing up. These are good things.

But I'm not ready. I know how selfish I'm being. Believe me - I do. But she's my sweet baby. I'm not ready for her to crawl away from me.

It's probably for the best that my mom's here to observe her firsts right now. It's hard to think I will probably miss them, but I want to be happy for her growth. She's so excited when she develops a new skill.

Today, I will have to learn to be excited, too.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 02:22 PM | Comments (8)

Back in the heyday of my armchair-parenting, I was quite vocal about the benefits of a noisy house around a baby. Heck, I can sleep through anything and I consider that to be mostly due to my mother's constant need to have noise around the house while I slept as a baby.

In theory, I still completely subscribe to this philosophy. If you can get a baby used to sleeping through noise, your life will be far easier. The child will probably be more rested, learn to walk and talk earlier and go on to an Ivy League college followed by the Nobel Prize.

My child, however, will not be doing such things. Because we have turned into a "Quiet! The baby's sleeping" kind of house. I'm mortified when I have to tell people not my husband this. I am totally the parent I used to judge. But when you've fought to get a baby down for a nap or for bed at night and they have proven time and again that they will wake up if that fifth stair creaks on your way to bed, you begin to lose your mind.

The point of all this is that Alliclaus has been asleep for about an hour and I'd really like to brush my teeth before going to bed. But last time I brushed my teeth once she was asleep, the noise woke her up and she wouldn't go back to sleep for two hours.

I'm gonna risk it, I think. I had a lot of garlic at lunch.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 08:03 PM | Comments (6)

We're having a winter storm here in Kansas City this week, so our home is turning into a festering cesspool of seasonal illness. Andiclaus and I have been doing pretty well, but Alliclaus is definitely getting the worst of it. Her room is so warm with the heat on that she seems to have developed a bit of a cold (runny nose, on-again off-again low grade fever). Other than the nastiness that is a runny nose on a person who doesn't get the concept of "blow," it hasn't actually been too bad.

Except for the sleep situation.

Alliclaus sucks her thumb. We're not sure when or how it started, but she's pretty attached to it now. It's how she calms herself down and it is, most definitely, how she falls asleep at night. Thanks to thumb-sucking, we haven't been up in the night for months. It's wonderful.

But the runny nose is preventing her from sucking her thumb. So for the past couple of nights, we've been up for hours at a time trying to calm Alliclaus down. She can't nurse, which is really the only weapon in my arsenal, so I'm feeling parentally impotent at this point.

She was so exhausted that she fell asleep without finishing her bedtime bottle tonight, so I'm hopeful that her need for sleep will outweigh her desire to suck her thumb, because I could really use the rest.

Also, if it isn't asking too much, I wouldn't mind a break from the constant nose-wiping.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 07:12 PM | Comments (3)

Um, yesterday Alliclaus wanted desperately for me to tell you all something:

"Dadadadadayayayayaya...."

(***Note: First time saying Dada: December 14, 2006***)

Posted by Bethiclaus at 08:35 AM | Comments (11)

I had this great post planned about how Gwen Stefani is nuts (who samples the marionette song from the Sound of Music?) and how John Mayer is politically inept (things really suck, I guess we'll just wait?), but the truth is that I am wiped out. I know it's only Day 2 of true teething and Alliclaus has been remarkably easy, but it is really draining to deal with an unhappy baby all day.

I'm going to bed. Tomorrow: Britney - Did we learn nothing from Paris?

Posted by Bethiclaus at 08:20 PM | Comments (6)

So, it came to my attention that probably a lot of you think my daughter's name is Allison or some derivative. It isn't. And while Andiclaus has put her first name on strict lockdown (so if you know it, please do not share it in the comments), I feel it is time I have a discussion with the Internet about a little something we call manners.

Alliclaus' name is Spanish. As in, it has an accent mark in it. In order to type it, I have to use crazy typing code. It's that Spanish.

Her name is not Alejandra, but I think this name is a good place to start in order for us to have this conversation. Let's pretend her name is Alejandra.

I regularly have this conversation with people I just met:

"What's your little boy's name?" (Don't even get me started)

"Her name is Alejandra."

"Oh. What do you call her?"

"Alejandra."

I get that a lot of people aren't comfortable with foreign languages or rolled r's. I have family members who can't say my husband's or my daughter's names. You know what they do? They ask me if there is a nickname they can use. This is an appropriate response.

What is not an appropriate response is to act like I am batshit crazy for giving my daughter a beautiful name that has both meaning to me and cultural resonance with her father.

So, feel free to call her Alliclaus. Some of my family members call her Ale (Ollay). But forgive me if I choose to call her by her given name.

***If you are reading this blog, you have never done this to me. You are all very polite and I like you verily.***

Posted by Bethiclaus at 10:57 AM | Comments (12)

I was already starting to feel the strong pull of laziness preventing me from posting. I had no good material to blog about today. I knew the day would end with me frantically typing out some excuse why I didn't have a better post prepared right before I fell into bed and tried to get some sleep.

But remember the photos I talked about having taken the other day? Like, early last month? Well, the photographer left the CD of them in my mailbox at work today. So instead of excuses, you get pictures.

Photos by Rebecca Peters. I would highly recommend her for weddings and family photos to anyone in the Kansas City area.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 01:22 PM | Comments (11)

She really wants to start crawling...if only she could get the belly off the ground.

There was a picture without the bunny ears, but her smile wasn't nearly as cute. I guess I could Photoshop them out.

A harmless bit of self-promotion via baby gear.

From Arun's Halloween party. I borrowed the costume, which means I spent exactly $0 on Halloween stuff this year. I'm so very happy.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 10:12 AM | Comments (6)

Chatty Cricket writes:
I'm interested in your favorite things to do with Alliclaus? What is your favorite part of your day together or your favorite part of her routine?

It sounds crazy and I feel like a La Leche Leaguer when i say it, but I think my favorite thing to do with Alliclaus is breastfeed. I worked my ass off to get here, and I really value the time we spend so close together. Also, she doesn't do a whole heck of a lot yet, so it's one activity where we actually interact. In a similar feeding vein, I also enjoy feeding her solids. She's so cute. It took her virtually no time to figure out how eating from a spoon works and now she's so sweet when she opens her mouth so big immediately after she's swallowed the previous bite.

My favorite part of the day with Alliclaus is first thing in the morning. (I like this especially now that her day starts at 5:30 instead of 3.) She's so happy when we wake her up in the morning. She nurses and then sits up and smiles and talks and talks and talks. She laughs at Andiclaus and she sits up, falls down, sits up, falls down, sits up, falls down. Leaving for work every morning is my least favorite part of my day. I'm super jealous that Andiclaus gets to do the well-rested baby time and I have to do the afternoon meltdown baby time.

Chatty Cricket had a bunch of other questions, but since I blog during my ten-minute break at work, I will have to answer those another day.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 10:01 AM | Comments (5)

and on to something much more important.

My boobs!

Alliclaus (in an attempt to always keep us guessing), slept through the night last night. We all woke up much happier this morning than we have been in weeks.

But now here I am at work (without a pump) and I think I might cry soon.

However, you know what they say about gift horses.

Sleep! I got some!

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:03 AM | Comments (4)

Oh my GOD!

Yesterday seemed like the perfect day. I worked an afternoon shift at work instead of my regular morning shift, so I was home with Alliclaus in the morning. She fell asleep during her 9:00 feeding (all according to my evil plan) and slept until about 11:15.

While I was at work, Andiclaus was able to get her to sleep for another hour and a half.

Ohmigosh! Two naps! It is the perfect day!

So Andiclaus left shortly after dinner to go close his store. Alliclaus and I went upstairs and played a little, changed into her pajamas and sat in the rocking chair for her bedtime feeding. She fell asleep!

Have I entered the Twilight Zone?

It was 8:30 and she was asleep in her crib! I was beside myself with joy! I could do any number of things.

What I did do was work fiendishly on a blanket that should have been done months ago.

I didn't really think I should go to bed because I just knew she would wake up any minute and cry. I really struggle to get out of bed when I've just fallen asleep, so I try to stay awake until Andiclaus gets home.

But she kept sleeping. Andiclaus was supposed to be home shortly after eleven, so at 10:45, I put the crocheting away and finished watching the Colbert Report while taking longer and longer blinks.

By eleven, I was asleep.

11:15. Andiclaus is not yet home, but Alliclaus is awake. So I drag my ass out of bed and go get her. As I just mentioned, I am not good at this part, so I just brought her back to bed to feed her because I couldn't bring myself to sit in that rocker.

I can't really remember what time Andiclaus got home, but he got Alliclaus back into her crib. For approximately one hour. After which, she chose to no longer sleep but instead gnaw on my nipple and scream.

I am so tired. I know that every new mom goes through this, but I just am not functioning well. What happened to my sweet sleepy baby? Who is this that has replaced her? And why doesn't she ever get tired?

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:32 AM | Comments (2)

So people frequently tell me how cute Alliclaus is.

Hello! Yes she is! The thing is, I don't really respond appropriately. Take this interaction that happened just yesterday.

"She just gets cuter and cuter."

"I KNOW."

Whu? When did I learn to have such bad manners? I'm fairly certain the appropriate response is something along the lines of "Thank you. You do, too." Just kidding, but really. I KNOW? Wow, Beth! What a great response!

Additionally, I always had prepared myself to raise a child who would know that looks did not matter (even if they totally do in our society), that she had value based purely on her being. Then I had a baby who causes hearts of ice to melt. I literally get stopped in stores and on the streets by people telling me that my daughter is beautiful. "And I would say that even if she weren't, but this time I mean it."

How do you raise a child not to value appearances above all else when she gets so much attention for hers?

Oh, holy Hell! I'm in this picture! And so are my chins!

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:15 AM | Comments (9)

This is the picture I shall now refer people to when they say, "Oh, her head isn't that big." Seriously, though. It isn't quite that big. Yikes.

This face is one that I have been trying to capture for awhile. I call it Blockhead because when she sucks in her chin like that her face looks decidedly square.

King of the Mountain!

Their other favorite pastime together is to watch TV in exactly this pose. I thought this was much cuter.

Cereal!

Hee.

I knew it! I knew she would love books! I knew it!

Sitting up. By herself. Oh yeah. Harvard here we come. Gross motor skills totally matter in those kinds of things. In opposite world.

This sneer right here is proof that she is my daughter. It will also haunt me for an entire decade we shall call adolescence. ( I don't think that's how you spell that, but I just retried five times. I give up.)

Also, we have a cat.

I would like to point out that this post is proof that a good camera will take you far since I took the vast majority of these photos. With my mom's fancy camera instead of our crappy one. (It's not crappy, it is just not good.)

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:19 AM | Comments (11)

So we picked up my mom at the airport yesterday afternoon. Alliclaus did fine for the first few minutes of her visit. She let Grandma hold her and walk her to the car. She let her strap her into the carseat.

The trip home was another situation altogether.

Alliclaus is completely used to sitting in the backseat by herself. She also has grown accustomed to Andrés or I sitting back there. What she's not used to is a stranger in the backseat with her.

I had forgotten that we had this exact same problem when we picked Sarah up at the airport. Silly Mommy!

This time was different, however, because we were driving on the HIGHWAY during RUSH HOUR and the baby was SCREAMING nonstop. My nerves were noticeably rattled.

I got into the backseat once we were off the highway (I still can't believe we survived). It helped a bit, but she was still pretty upset. She had the real tears going, which is about more than I can stand.

Anyway, I entertained her with an aforementioned talent. Here's the deal. My secret talent is voices and sounds. My dad used to do them for me growing up and it may be the only behavioral thing I picked up from him. (Lord knows it isn't the high cleaning frenzies.) I do a couple of Sesame Street characters, a lot of animals, accents - that kind of thing. I'm working on learning to talk with my mouth closed. Alliclaus really likes to listen to me do that.

I'm kind of embarrassed that I told you all that. Oh well. I'm hitting publish anyway.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:49 AM | Comments (6)

So after having to lay the smack down on a receptionist who WOULDN'T EVEN TAKE MY NAME, I finally received Alliclaus' CT scan results.

Her brain is very big. But it is not swollen.

That's right! My baby is a bobble-head, but she is a completely healthy one.

Thanks for all your kind words these last few days. They've been helpful.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:25 AM | Comments (11)

Well, it's 9:30 and still no return call from the pediatrician.

I really like my pediatrician generally. He's a wacky old man (as I believe all pediatricians should be) and he wears a bowtie and acts like a fool whenever we come in. While it's a little strange now, I know that his jokes are just the kind of thing kids love.

He's a D.O. which is a little more up our little hoemopathic alley.

He's extremely laidback and is never alarmist.

Right now, however, I HATE him.

Why won't he just call me back, for the love of God? I know that he is probably looking at a perfectly normal CT scan and thinking, Good. Nothing to be worried about. But see, the thing is? I cannot hear his internal monologue so I continue to worry.

Plus both grandmas are calling finding out how "their" baby is. (Don't even get me started on that.)

I don't want to make a pest of myself, because I know the nurses can't do anything until the doctor releases the information, but I also kind of think the squeaky wheel gets the grease, you know?

Anyway, today's Andiclaus' day off work, so I expect we'll get some housework done and hopefully I'll also get a little bit further on those damn blankets.

There are very few pictures of Alliclaus up here lately. It's not because her head is the size of a hot air balloon, I promise. I'm just a lazy mom.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:29 AM | Comments (9)

So on Friday morning I woke up Alliclaus after only four hours of sleep.

This is for real what I look like. And not just at 4 am. It's so sad.

She did pretty well. She was obviously very tired and did frequently root for the Breasts of Nourisment, but she was fairly easily distracted.

This can't possibly be this easy, can it?

This is right after her bath. Things went a bit downhill from here.

We left for the hospital very early, mostly because I didn't want to bother our neighbor with the screams. Andiclaus sat in the back of the car and tried to keep Alliclaus awake on the fifteen minute trip to the hospital. He was relatively successful, but man, was it an adventure.

We got to Children's Mercy Hospital. It was very much a children's hospital.

(Side note: I know how important it is to have a children's hospital be cheerful, but it is really depressing to be there. Most of the other kids in Radiology that morning were very obviously not well. I can't even imagine sitting in their seats rather than mine.)

After all that, I would have expected Alliclaus to fall asleep as soon as she hit the table. As the nice lady PROMISED she would. It took us about 45 minutes to get her to sleep in there. But once she did, she was out pretty well.

She never sleeps this way in her carseat. She usually does the weird head falling forward sleep that makes you think your child will have a sore neck for years thing. This time she was too tired for that shit.

The hardest part was definitely the overtired baby won't take a nap routine we went through all afternoon. All Andiclaus and I wanted to do was sleep. She was not interested.

Anyway, I should hear from the doctor today or tomorrow. If I haven't heard by close of business today, I will be calling first thing tomorrow, all "Hello, Anxious Mother here. Please tell me all is well." I think a doctor looked at the CT before we left the hospital and I assume that if her brain was about to burst forth from her head, they wouldn't have let us leave.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:41 AM | Comments (4)

She did great. More laterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Posted by Bethiclaus at 01:24 PM | Comments (8)

Well, it's just one hour before she hits the crib and tonight hasn't really been too bad. She hasn't cried too much and she's been fairly easy to keep awake.

I know that tomorrow morning will be much tougher than tonight, since I could keep feeding her tonight. But I feel like I have a better chance of making it through tomorrow morning having had a better evening than I expected.

I'll probably add something else tomorrow morning before we leave for the hospital. But it might be just a scream. Or a picture.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 11:18 PM | Comments (3)

So I got the referral and called Children's Mercy to schedule Alliclaus' CT scan.

"Children's Mercy Radiology, how can I help you?"

"Um, I need to schedule my daughter's CT scan."

"Her name?"

"Alliclaus."

"Okay. I see the referral here. Would you rather do the scan downtown or in Overland Park?"

"Um, Overland Park, I guess."

"And how old is she?"

"Five months."

"Oh. She not six months yet? Well then you have to go to Children's Mercy in downtown. They're the only ones who do sedative-free scans."

ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!

"Um, okay."

"So what we do is a sleep-deprivation CT scan."

Whu?

"You'll need to keep her up until midnight and then wake her up at four. No feeding. You'll need to be here at 7:30 sharp and once they have her on the table for the scan, you'll give her a bottle and that should put her to sleep."

Is the punch line coming?

"Um."

"It's really more parents' sleep-deprivation than anything else."

"I can see that."

So her CT scan is on Friday. I was all terrified about encephalitis, but now I'm really more scared of Friday morning.

Hold me.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 08:59 AM | Comments (9)

So yesterday we went in for Alliclaus' five-month weight check. Her weight is great - 13.5 pounds. She appears to have finally found her growth curve, as she's stuck to the same one for three months. This really put my mind at ease.

Then the doctor showed me her head circumference chart. I've always known that Alliclaus had a big head. When she was born it was in the 92nd percentile and at her last doctor's visit it was in the 98th. But at this visit it was off the chart. This is not the type of growth they like to see in big-headed babies, so we are off to get a CT scan. The word encephalitis was definitely used. The referral should come in today and then we'll get her in for the scan as soon as possible.

I am doing my very best not to panic. Other moms with big-headed children had mentioned it to me so at least I was prepared. My doctor was very calm about the whole thing and so I am trying to remain so as well. If you know me in real life, that is why you didn't receive an email or a call about this. I feel like that would be the thing to do if I was alarmed. But I am remaining calm, so you'll only hear about it here on the blog.

Anyone out there been through this before? All the statistics seem pretty reassuring that it isn't encephalitis, but if it is, it seems pretty traumatic.

Alright, back to work.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:09 AM | Comments (11)

We're leaving for Lake of the Ozarks this afternoon (my company met their sales goals - yay!), so I am really too frazzled to think of anything to post today. So, pictures!

Mom, I think it might be time for a haircut!

The cow says, "Mooo." And also, "Muuu." I'm so totally bilingual.

See you Monday!

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:08 AM | Comments (5)

We love Bumbo!

Haha! Now that I am sitting up I shall only be closer to enacting my diabolical plot. If only Salem would listen to me. Why does he think he gets to be the boss?

We found our foot!

Mmmm...tastes like boobie.

And Auntie Sarah came to visit!

Auntie Sarah! It's supposed to be the baby who's never looking into the camera!

Sarah came down from Chicago on Friday and we hung out all weekend. We worked on a series of books that we are writing for Alliclaus and had a lot of fun trashing the books we found at the library. (BTW, Have you read Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter? It's fabulous.)

Anywho, the visit was much too short, but that's how we do these days. Sarah's very busy, having just finished her thesis and accepting a director's position at her center. Plus she teaches at the community college, so I guess that means I have to get used to the unanswered voicemails. (Bitter much?)

We're planning to go to Chicago in October for a weekend visit, but it seems so far away. Having Sarah come visit is one of my favorite things about living in Kansas City, but when she leaves, it always reminds me of how truly lonely I am out here.

In loneliness news, however, I am meeting not one, but two bloggers this week. I know. I'm scared, too. Hold me.

Aw, come on Mom. How bad can it be? They think I'm cute, right? Well, then I like them already!

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:04 AM | Comments (7)

Do you guys correct people when the incorrectly identify your baby's sex?

I feel stupid being all, "She's a girl" when someone says things like, "He's so cute." So instead I usually say, "I think so, too."

I don't want to be one of those moms who says, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe they thought my daughter was a boy! Look at that face! She is obviously a girl!" Because the people who say that crap? They're wrong! With a diaper on, you have no idea what my baby has going on downstairs without me telling you.

I dress her in girl's clothes, but I also dress her in unisex and boy's clothes, because really? She's a baby. She has no clearly identified sense of gender at this point.

However, I've started to wonder how long I should let someone refer to her as a boy. If it's someone I actually know and with whom I spend some amount of time, I'll correct them. But somebody walks up to me at Starbucks and strikes up a conversation? I just don't know when to correct them. And usually, by the time I feel like I ought to, it would be kind of weird that I let them go on and on about my son who is really my daughter.

So then I think, I just won't mention it. But what if someone else tells her, "What are you talking about? She's a girl," since people actually know me at Starbucks? Will she think I'm a bitch for not saying anything?

This post seems like an awful lot of energy to spend on such a blah parenting issue. I have a post waiting at home to be published later today. It's way better than this one.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:06 AM | Comments (9)

Alliclaus had some pictures taken! Go check them out!

Rebecca Peters Photography

More will come soon!

Posted by Bethiclaus at 07:49 AM | Comments (8)

'Nough said.

Still, I think she's rather cute.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 05:28 PM | Comments (2)

Well, not technically lightweights in any weight sense of the word.

Alliclaus has virtually always slept through the night. This means that Andiclaus and I are not trained in the art of new parent allnighters. We did some in college, but we are oh so much older now. But last night in some sort of teething/gas combination, she woke up at 1am...and screamed for five hours! The only time she calmed down was while I was nursing, but because she is teething, I can only do that for so long. I'm not a teething ring, chickie.

This morning it was like Night of the Living Dead in our house.

Luckily, I just spoke to Andiclaus and he and Alliclaus have been napping since I left. This is tremendous news. I just hope she isn't saving it up for me as soon as Andiclaus leaves for work tonight.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 10:03 AM | Comments (3)

Alliclaus has her first boyfriend.

This is Elijah and Alliclaus on their first playdate. They're both too young to play with each other yet, but they like to smile at each other while they play individually.

Elijah's only two weeks older than Alliclaus. She seems so little compared to him now. But trolls, be advised, Elijah is seriously maxing out the growth chart, so don't contrast and compare.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 12:50 PM | Comments (5)

Well, I was totally paranoid that Alliclaus was looking thinner again and that I would go the two weeks before her next regular appointment "starving" her and that the Internet would hunt me down and report me to CPS. Not really, but I was concerned because she seemed to be thinning out again. Well, she must have gotten longer, because she gained another half-pound this week.

I'm very happy to see that she's finally catching up. I don't think that she's going to reach the "double your birth weight by six months" goal, but she'll be close.

I'm so happy. Clearly, so is Alliclaus.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:14 AM | Comments (2)

Well, Alliclaus has decided that formula is her friend. She gained approximately 40 grams a day over the week we started giving her formula. The pediatrician recommended that we stay on the current plan until next month at which time we'll see - get this - if she's gaining weight too quickly.

Mostly, I'm just super excited to know that the problem was not a metabolic issue in her body and that she can gain weight. I hate giving her bottles, since I really wanted to be a breastfeeding-only mom, but the fact is that she's doing great with it and I couldn't be happier.

I'm not picky Mom. Look, I'll even eat my own fist.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:01 AM | Comments (15)

Alliclaus went in for her weight check on Monday and she gained a whopping five ounces in a month. She was more than nine pounds at birth and she hasn't even reached ten-and-a-half yet. The very-pro-breastfeeding pediatrician has decided that it is time for us to begin adding formula.

My heart is broken. I worked so hard at breastfeeding, not actually succeeding for seven weeks. Now I wonder if I was ever really succeeding or if I was just starving Alli. I'm not giving up breastfeeding, but I know what formula supplementation does to breastmilk supply and I'm afraid that despite my best efforts, this will be the beginning of the end of breastfeeding. It's very disappointing.

Last night, Alli went on a nursing strike for two feedings in a row. Not a big deal for most people, but since I need to get her weight up this week before Monday's weigh-in, I couldn't handle the pressure. Alli was crying, I was crying, the cat was freaked out...for hours. She also wouldn't sleep. She was awake for nine hours straight yesterday, which freaked me right the fuck out. Luckily, when she finally gave up her nursing strike, she fell asleep and barely woke up for her last feeding of the night.

Either way, I'm so glad we nursed while we could. She isn't too far behind on her milestones, so I'm hoping the lack of weight gain isn't an indicator of further problems.

She's so cute considering she's so skinny. Must be the giant head.

Mom, you're upside down. No. I'm upside down. Wait. What's "upside down," anyway?

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:02 AM | Comments (7)

Alliclaus is one of those dream babies. She doesn't fuss, she doesn't spit up, she would have slept throught the night since birth if we would have let her. She isn't a very vigorous eater, but we're working on that.

There is one thing that is troubling me and Andiclaus that I can't for the life of me figure out how to fix. Alliclaus won't sleep on her back.

Currently, she sleeps in an infant seat during the night. This solution works fine for now although I would like to ee her in her own room sometime soon and it just seems sad to put her in her room alone in the seat.

During the day, she sleeps on our bed. On her tummy. She won't sleep in the seat during the day. She will not sleep on her back. When I put her down on her back, she plays quietly until she's tired. Then she screams. As soon as I roll her over, she falls asleep.

Now I know that babies aren't supposed to sleep face down. i know that I am responsible for the creation of this problem. I know that I am the worst mom ever. So if those are your comments, kindly shut it.

I'm not confessing this so I can hear about the increased risk of SIDS. The only reason I'm telling you is so that the Internet can fix my problem.

Ready? Go!

Posted by Bethiclaus at 11:08 AM | Comments (15)

I have so much to tell you guys, but I have exactly five minutes before I need to feed the baby and leave for work, so I'll only have time for a quick story from yesterday.

Alliclaus is finally smiling on a somewhat regular basis. I have been trying to capture a photograph of this damn smile for about a week. But yesterday, I decided I would not stop until I got it. It took Andiclaus and I about half an hour of repeated attempts before we got a picture that even remotely resembles her smile. See, she smiles and we push the button. In the second it takes for the camera to actually take the picture, she has stopped smiling, then starts again right after the picture.

She's killing me.

I think this is the closest we got.

There, Mom. Will you please leave me alone now?

Posted by Bethiclaus at 06:57 AM | Comments (9)

Was that you always bothering me when I was in Mommy's tummy?

The Caesar cut has not been cool since George Clooney, Mom.

Now that's what I'm talking about. I'm too punk rock for this blog.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:02 PM | Comments (7)

Alliclaus will be two months old tomorrow. So today, Andiclaus, Alliclaus, Andiclaus' mom (Mommiclaus) and I piled into Molly Malibu to visit our doctor.

The good news:
Alliclaus is great with shots. She got four today and outside of the immediate screaming, she hasn't had any adverse reaction to the shots. Any. Not even increased fussiness. I love that girl.

The bad news:
Her stats from her one-month checkup
Weight: 65%
Height: 75%
Head: 92%

Her stats today
Weight: 34%
Height: 76%
Head: 95%

Outside of the fact that it is extremely funny to me that my daughter has such a melon head, the weight issue made me have a minor nervous breakdown. Except maybe not minor. See, two weeks ago we stopped giving Alliclaus formula except for her top-off bottle before bed. And now she is starving to death.

I might be overreacting.

Her pediatrician (who I mostly love but today kind of pissed me off) is completely unconcerned. He says not to start supplementing with formula again, but to come in for a three-month checkup which is normally not necessary. I'm totally scared now that she'll waste away by then.

So, recommendations for increasing breast milk production? Currently, I'm taking Reglan and Fenugreek, getting lots of water and sleep and having a glass of wine each night. I'm also taking suggestions for how to keep a baby awake and nursing when she is much more interested in sleep.

No pictures today, but I'll post some tomorrow.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:52 PM | Comments (6)

Or not. We had to stop every two to three hours to feed Alliclaus. It certainly made us spend more time on the road. So Wednesday, May 10 we drove from Kansas City to Oklahoma City. Thursday, we drove to Albuquerque. And Friday, we arrived in Phoenix to spend two days with David and Sharon, my cool young uncle and aunt who are also dedicated lurkers here.

David had the magic touch with Alliclaus. Apparently, though, she also had the magic touch with him.

Ha ha! My evil plan to take over the country with my cuteness is working!

It was fun to see them and I was glad that my mom got to spend a little time in Phoenix.

Dude! What is with the paparazzi? Is Sean Preston as irritated as I am?

We even got to spend some quality dead bug time with their little boy, Shadrach.

Oh boy! Where's Andiclaus?

On Sunday (my first Mother's Day), we drove into San Diego to have a four-generation Mother's Day dinner with my grandma.

Grandma, I'm tired! Please stop saying, "One more with my camera!"

Everyone loved Alliclaus, but there were some notable visitors. My dad couldn't get enough of her.

Why does my mommy keep giving me to scary, hairy baby eaters?

My grandma wouldn't stop telling me how precious she is (as if there were any question).

I know I'm beautiful. Worship me, Grammie!

Even her Tia Berniclaus got to meet her.

Um, excuse me? Who are you looking at? I'm down here.

Andiclaus came out to meet us on Monday night and take us home. So Tuesday morning, Alliclaus took her first flight. She's such a world traveler!

I hate flying coach! Don't these people know who I am?

She did great!

Mom. The camera. Stop it.

Posted by Bethiclaus at 09:24 AM | Comments (5)