Loopy Mama » Navigating the alien world of parenthood, one loopy day at a time

My baby girl is 7 months old today…actually, it’s 1AM – so technically – it was yesterday.

I don’t know what is so different about “7 months old” vs “6 months” – but it really feels different.  Like she isn’t a baby anymore.

Which is rather ridiculous.  But…I don’t know…it just feels different.

Perhaps it’s because her personality is really beginning to shine.  And she is doing ‘little people’ things like eating food, drinking from a cup and…(we had a big moment today!) for the first time ever, Rya has figured out how to propel herself forward!

It was like watching a salmon swim upstream.

She would wriggle forward, in pursuit of the object placed just out of her reach.  She would gain a few inches, and then slide herself backwards an inch.

Undaunted, she would start the wriggling process again.

Bum lift. Wiggle…wiggle…. and little by little…she made her way forward, until SUCCESS!  She reached the reward (a plastic bag of all things!)

I felt ridiculously proud of her.

Watching your little peanut figure out new things is pretty amazing.  So is being a mama (even on those days when it doesn’t feel amazing because you are riddled with mommy-guilt…like on our last trip to the Island…more on that later!)

(special thanks to Robyn from State of Grace Photography for the photo, taken at our ‘Fit by Design‘ coffee outing!)

I’m coming out of a fog.  I don’t know how to explain it.  Oh wait.  Yes I do.

You know when you meet someone, that special someone, and it turns your whole world upside down.

You can’t get enough of each other.  You hardly see your friends.  You stop trying to make new ones.  You don’t even notice if you have eaten that day.

You fall off the face of the earth…and those times when you might actually be around other people, you aren’t really there…you’re still off in your own little ‘private world’ with your special someone (flying through the sky in a red convertible?  ok…maybe not that part!).

And then, one day, you wake up and think, “Oh, hello world.  Nice to see you.”  But no one is saying ‘nice to see you’ back – and you realize that you are missing a bunch of your connections because you have neglected them.

I feel a bit like that.  Sorry friends.

And sorry blog.  I’ve neglected you too.  But at least I know you don’t care.

Anyone else feel this way after having a baby?  Am I normal? (ok…I know I’m not normal…but is the feeling normal?)

Our baby had her first Christmas.

I hosted my first Christmas dinner.

I’m not sure I recommend that combination.

Actually – there is nothing wrong with the combination – just make sure ‘I need help’ are words you will actually say versus attempting to out-Martha Ms. Stewart herself (which, by the way, is never likely to happen!)

It started off calm enough, with a lovely sleep-in with my daughter.  Daddy made us coffee, Rya tore into her gifts (literally – she’s pretty good at opening presents!). Then, it was time to get started on dinner.

First, there was a big ol’ turkey in my fridge that needed to be tackled.

Having never made a turkey before, I thought maybe these things were hard to do.  YouTube to the rescue!

Soon I was removing neck and nasty bits, rubbing it down like a pro and stuffing it like there was no tomorrow.

“Hm”…I thought, “there’s nothing too difficult about making a bird!” – (even if I had to improvise on the ‘tie up with string’ instructions!)

Next up, the ham.   A little criss-cross clove studding and a sweet honey glaze, and we were off to the races!

The sweet potato casserole was prepped and pastry for the apple pie was already made and in the fridge.

We are all set to have a nice early 5PM dinner (which was important with young kids in the family)

By 4:30, the turkey was ready to come out and the ham and was smelling amazing (and I’m not even a big ham fan).  At this point, all that needed to happen was for the sweet potato casserole to go in the oven, the cranberry sauce to be made (which was a snap), and the salad dressing to be whipped up.

But at this point, Rya needed to go down for a nap.

45 minutes later, the rest of family had arrived, but instead of having a sleeping baby upstairs and dinner on the table, I was handing off an over-tired baby to my sister and heading back into the kitchen.

We had now slipped past our original dinner time.

We still would have been on for a 6PM dinner – however, I got it in my head the apple pie NEEDED be completed at this stage…and this is where it all went sideways.

Ever try to roll out pastry dough in a kitchen that is about 30 degrees?  Bad idea!

But I persisted…and persisted…while putting meat carving on hold while I tried to get it done .

In the living room, I could hear my daughter getting unhappier.

The casserole came out needing to caramelize a wee bit longer, so I popped it back in the oven to broil for “one minute” and started the cranberry sauce.   As I continued my futile battle with the overheated pastry, listening to my daughter start to really cry, the cranberries began to boil over, and I suddenly smelled burnt peacans – Eek!  The casserole!

I quickly finished making a very sad-looking lattice crust for the pie, popped it in the oven, and left the kitchen to scoop my crying baby while hubbie went to work carving up the meat.

Bon appetite everyone – start dinner without me!

As I stepped into the nursery, turned on the soothing music, and sat in the rocking chair with Rya to nurse,  I took a deep breath, and had to chuckle.

That was ridiculous.

There were so many sets of hands just waiting (nay…hovering!),  for me to simply say, “I need help.”  And what the hell was up with my pie obsession?  (was this tied to some sort of postpartum hormone imbalance or had I just gone temporarily insane?)

Anyhow, about 20 minutes later when she was fed and sleeping, I came downstairs to find empty plates on the dinner table.

Empty, clean plates.

And a hungry family.

They had waited for me.

(swallow big lump in throat).

It was now past 7:30.

I would like to say at this point, the rest of the evening was calm and relaxing….but hey, we had some overtired kids, Rya woke up 10 minutes into dinner, and in the meantime, I managed to drive my head into the bathroom door, resulting in a fast-rising goose egg (the most comical part may have been the reaction at the table...“Put some ice on it quick, it’s getting big!”  “No…seriously…get some ice on it now!”)

The dinner tasted great though… I think?  I don’t remember?  Concussion? (hehe…just joking)

But, with such a late start dinner, and everyone full of turkey, the sad-looking pie ended up just sitting on the counter silently mocking me.

Damn-you pie.

I have to share this find right before the holidays – because, quite frankly, I think it could be a life-saver for those of you with young children traveling!

“Sparks Story Starters!” – created right here in Kamloops by local Mom, Tamara Vukusic & her husband.

What are they?  In a nutshell…

Spark Your Imagination Story Starters is the fuel your kids’ imagination has been waiting for. These 50 kid-tested scenarios kick-start creativity and get kids talking. (I totally just swiped from their website! – could you tell?)

(and how cute is this  “testimonial”)

- Adam, aged 5 says
“Can you ask me the one about my pet dragon and how I sneak it into school? I have a different end now… “

And – here‘s the best part – because I’m a self-proclaimed iPhone junkie – you can get these cards on your iPhone!

Download the app here (or search “Spark-2″) (just .$99!) – and trust me, when you are waiting in line at the airport, in the middle of your roadtrip, or at the mall, and your children are getting bored, that will be the best damn $.99 you ever spent!

Of course, if you happen to LIVE in Kamloops – you can go get the real deck of cards too!(and you should!)
(Find them at the Kids Room, Tumbleweed Toys, Frou Frou Monkey, the Mulberry Bush & Full Boar Bicycle – just $13.99 -they make a GREAT stocking stuffer)

Why might you want the cards over just the iPhone app?

1.  For one, your reading-age children could head off with them on their own (you may not wish to send them off with your iPhone!) Of course these days, maybe the kids even HAVE their own iPhone!

2. The visiting grandparents can use them with the children to get re-acquainted (again, you may not wish to send your parents off with your iPhone either! hehe)

3. If you are using them in the car and you are driving, you’ll totally get busted if you use the iPhone app!

4. And I guess…maybe you don’t HAVE any iPhone?  Could it be?  Is there life without one? hahah

Tamara mentioned you could put a card at each place setting at the Christmas dinner to engage in some lively conversation.  I could have used those a few years ago when the conversation turned to grasshoppers (yes -grasshoppers) – and went on for 45 minutes about the poor farmers fields….sigh

Don’t have kids?  Well, quite frankly, I don’t think these are ONLY just for kids either – I might just pull out my deck on New Years – after a glass of wine (yes…one glass is all it takes after over a year sans-alcohol’) – I’m pretty sure I’ll be coming up with some seriously great story lines!  Who’s coming to MY New Year’s party?!

In any case – I think this idea just ROCKS! (and they definitely would help “Loopy Mamas” be a little less loopy over this holiday season!)

Ok – reader participation time!  Let’s see what YOU can come up with using this sample “spark starter”)

My baby girl is 4 months old today.

And I have an empty bed.

Sob.

Ok…chin up mama, I know this is part of the whole ‘growing up’ thing that inevitably happens the moment they arrive.  But I have to say, I’m having some trouble sleeping without her beside me (which might explain writing this post at 1 in the morning).

A few days ago, we had the craziest of nights where she was up to snack every hour.  It wasn’t that she was hungry…she would just inch-worm her way over to me, smack her lips, and say, “hand over the boob woman!”

I had become “soothe-a-boob.”  And, I have to admit, I was only too happy to oblige (fully realizing all veteran moms will be clucking their tongues at me…is that the expression?  Does one “cluck their tongue?”)

Anyway – I really wasn’t worried about the clucking moms, but I figured it couldn’t be good for Rya if she was up every hour to snack (she clearly has inherited my will power when it comes to snacking! hehe), so two nights ago, we moved her to the bassinet beside our bed.

Might I add, I’m on the side of the bed against the wall, so there is my husband between her and I – which feels like a really big distance…it might as well be Siberia (yeah…I tend to dramatize, I know)

But I really do feel like I’m floating around this empty bed, with part of me missing.  I know she is 3 feet away.  But I miss her terribly.

Confession: last night, after her 5AM feeding, I brought her back to bed with me for a morning snuggle.  Cluck away.  This mama needed it! And she slept quite peacefully with me until 9AM, so I think Rya needed it too.

I hope she gets some will power and we can go back to sleeping together (or maybe I’m the one that needs some will-power!)

“Letting go….”  Clearly I still need some work on this concept!