Monday, June 28, 2010

Bath Time

I gave Nile a bath tonight. She actually seemed to like it. She could sort of sit up better in her baby bath than she has during previous baths. And she kept a stoic face the whole time, rather than making a borderline-uncomfortable face like she has in the past, in which cases I've hurried up to get her in and out asap so she doesn't end up hating bathtime.

I am considering tonight's lengthier on my part and neutrally-tolerated on her part bath a success, because usually I am TERRIFIED of bathing baby Nile.

I have honestly bathed Nile fewer times than I can count on my fingers.

Yes, she is three months (and five days) old.

Neil has given her a few sponge baths; sometimes we give her a quick once-over with the baby wipes before going out, and of course her diaper area is cleaned multiple times a day.

But as far as baths with soap and water in her baby bath, she has not had very many.

I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SOOOooooo afraid of something happening to her. It's irrational, I know. I hold her the whole time, and don't look away or even blink. OK, I blink. But I don't turn my head away. It was worse I guess when she could hardly sit or hold her head up, and I had to hold her and be really careful the whole time.

It just scared me to the point of not wanting to bathe her.

CRAZY, I know!

And one of the FIRST things I told Nanny was not to bathe her, that we would bathe her at night. I hope Nanny can't tell that I have hardly been keeping good on my word! I just DEFINITELY don't want anyone else bathing her. I am so scared and paranoid about something happening; and no, reading this didn't help any. (Don't worry, the little boy made a full recovery, but his story still scares the living daylights out of me.)

So I am glad that it was a good experience for both of us tonight.




Still making her stoic face.



Mom, this is the Winnie the Pooh bear suit you sent her!!!




Smiley girl.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Mosquito Problem

We somehow have a mosquito problem in our apartment.

The past couple nights I have not had an incident, but last week I awoke every night to the


H  O  R  R  I  B  L  E


sound of a mosquito buzzing around my ear!!!!!

ugghhhhh!!! gross

And of course, lovely bites all over my legs when I'm sitting at the computer, and lovely bites all over my back, face and arms while I'm sleeping!!!

The last straw was yesterday, when I came home at lunch and Nile had a bite on her face. And then while I was feeding her in her room, Neil spotted and killed the mosquito on the ceiling above her crib!

You may think, "big deal, mosquitoes ... they ARE annoying though."

But you have to realize --

it's winter here.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

OK, OK, I Admit It!

... I've been spending some time here:


It keeps me sane in the winter, OK?!

I can't help but get a kick out of "Fry High Performance."

That can't be a good thing ...

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Baby Face






(Click picture to enlarge.)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

my philosophy

i ordered some "baby grace" scented stuff from philosophy.

everything on their site and in the e-mail shipping confirmation, etc. is in lowercase.

that's their style.

you can imagine how the former copy editor in me feels about that.

{it is really, hugely, a pet peeve.}

i ordered the baby grace stuff because it is the most -- pardon the uppercase -- AWESOME scent ever.

besides l'occitane's verbena.


the sad thing is, i ordered the baby grace stuff because ...

i was given a tiny little bottle of baby grace shower gel by a friend when i was in arizona, and it was so wonderful i decided to pack it in my carry-on.

well, the very friendly tsa guy in phoenix -- no, really, he was actually friendly -- apologized profusely but said i could not take the shower gel because it was in too large of a container (4 oz.).

tsa regulation is 3 oz.

well, why does philosophy -- and many other companies, i am noticing -- make a deceptively small 4 oz bottle if it is not the right size to carry on?

i think all companies should consider making their products in sizes that can be carried on. i have twice had an expensive hair pomade confiscated while traveling because it, too, was 1 oz. over the limit. such a huge bummer!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Tissue Box

Madrid, Athens, Doha, Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Salvador? Quito??

New Jersey???


 "Every place has something good to see. Go!"

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Dear Plants,


I'm sorry I left you for three months with no water.


How was I to know the balcony was so well protected from rain?


I promise I didn't mean to kill you.


Friday, June 11, 2010

Ridiculous!

OK, I just have to say --

J. Crew is ridiculous.

I went to their site and was greeted by this page

 http://www.jcrew.com/AST/Navigation/Women.jsp

where I saw a flimsy, sequined tank top, like anything you could get at Forever 21

But selling for nearly $800.

-- Sometimes when I log onto sites (if I don't have my proxy going) it knows I'm in Argentina and will adjust its prices accordingly to Argentine pesos. --

Anthropologie, for instance, does this.

Well, with the Argentine peso trading at nearly 4 to 1, I thought, "oh, OK, this tank top must actually be $200, but still, that's INSANE." So out of curiosity I clicked on the item and was brought to this page

http://www.jcrew.com/AST/Browse/WomenBrowse/Women_Feature_Assortment/jcrewcollection/dresses/PRDOVR~26946/26946.jsp


Knit sequin fleur dress   (it's a dress??)

$795.00

This exquisite cotton dress is a limited-edition collector's item (only a handful exist). The design was inspired by the intricate floral work on a vintage kimono, and each sequin was applied by hand. Cotton. Sleeveless. Hits at midthigh. Part of the J.Crew Collection. Import. Hand wash.

We're sorry. This item has been so popular, it has sold out. We've got other great ideas--just call us 800 562 0258, we're here to help.



I'm sure you do have other great ideas, J. Crew. Do they all cost $800?

J. Crew is full of so much crap, and the suckers who sold out this "limited edition" Forever 21 lookalike are crazy!

$800 for a cotton sequined tank top?!

Maybe I'm just a hater, because it is a lovely item and I wish I had one (but for maybe $20, tops). I now know the true meaning of sticker shock!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Caring for Baby



Baby Nile is so sweet and wonderful. I am really enjoying being a mom much more than I thought I would. I was so freaked out about having a child, I was afraid I would have post-partum depression. But it has just been a joyful ride so far!

I feel GREAT since having her. SO much better than I felt while I was pregnant. I am just amazed at what the human body can do. Everyone who told me breastfeeding was the miracle transformer was right; I am completely happy with the way my body looks and the energy that I have. I think I look better than before I was pregnant. And pregnancy hormones at first made me break out around month 5 and then ever since then, even now, my skin has been perfectly clear! And my mood has been good, OK, sometimes unnecessarily tender, but that is part of being a mommy I guess. So all of that is a huge part of feeling good post-partum (for me).

Also, going to work has been really good, I have so many good (how many times can I say "good," I need a new adjective here) friends and coworkers there and I think I am the type of person who needs that time away from home, and mental stimulation. So that is what is working for me so far.

I went back to work on May 17, when Nile was two months old. It was a sad day! But after that day it was OK. Neil is doing school full-time online, but he was watching Nile, too. Well, the plan was to have a nanny because I want him to do school and knew that he wouldn't be able to give her 100% attention. He objected to the nanny but gave in.

Well, the nanny started this Monday. I stayed home Monday to show her around and answer any questions, and to kind of see how she does things. She was our friends' nanny for their two little girls and had been with them nearly 4 years before they moved. She had cared for their youngest daughter since the day she was born. So she knows babies.

Well, it was SO HARD to be home all day Monday and have to do my own thing and stay away from Nile. I had to give the nanny her time and space with her. The nanny (can we think of a less awkward name for her, other than her real name?) is so sweet and good with Nile. Nile was making her almost-laugh sounds (I haven't heard her do a full laugh yet) and grinning all day.

Nanny played with her on her Baby Einstein mat. And one time when I was watching her, Nile grabbed one of the things dangling from it. What?! I had no idea she could do that!! Nanny rocked her to sleep and put her down for a nap. When I went to get Nile to feed her, she had the baby blanket over her body in the bassinet. Yikes! I am so paranoid. We only use Sleep Sacks. I didn't want to be a total freak, so I talked it over with Neil. Of course, he thinks the blanket's fine. I need to tell her just to use the Sleep Sack. Anyway.

So Monday was hard and then Tuesday was harder. Nanny arrived (she is not live-in) and was there while I was getting ready for work  and then I had to leave baby Nile with her. I felt this weird, misguided, slight anger (anger isn't the word, but I can't quite capture the feeling in a word) and jealousy toward Nanny for having baby Nile all day! VERY weird, unfamiliar, mommy emotion!! But luckily the feeling went away and I was happy to leave Nile with her after lunch.

I was describing this to one of my coworkers. I was saying how it wasn't bad at all leaving her with Neil, because he is like an extension of me, but it was really hard leaving her with Nanny. He said that makes complete sense, because Neil is family, but Nanny is "the other woman."

And I don't want Nanny to be the other woman in Nile's life, but I think it will be good having her. I come home every day at lunch to feed baby Nile. In the hours between when I leave in the morning---lunch---and when I come home in the evening, baby Nile is getting excellent stimulation, play, singing to, and naps. She is being cuddled, walked around, and allowed to explore. She is getting all this, punctuated by feeding and love and time with her daddy.

(Quick question for those who know babies: What other interactive activities can one do with a 2.5-mo.-old? Other than reading. Right now Nanny spends a lot of time with Nile on the Baby Einstein mat. I don't want either one of them to get bored. Also, the house is very quiet because we don't really use the TV. I don't want the TV or music blaring, but should I have something on or do you think it's fine to have a really quiet house like that? Ideas are welcome, please!)

Nile does sleep a lot. And when Nile is sleeping comes the bonus: Nanny is a housekeeper, too. So she cleans, cooks, shops for groceries, irons, feeds the pets, walks the dog, empties the litterbox (hallelujah!), takes my drycleaning down the block to the cleaners. L-O-V-E it. Really, it is the way to go for me, because when I get home, I am not doing all of those extraneous things that I HATE :) er, that I would otherwise have had to do after work (OK, major props to Neil, he is an amazing "helpmeet"). But it totally gives me 100% quality time with Nile and Neil, which is so wonderful. And I am not stressed about getting other things done around the house. It's working out really well so far.

OK, some more photos because really, how can I choose just one? These were from last Sunday.





Tuesday, June 8, 2010

D'ya Like Dags?


Saw these dogs waiting as their dog walker picked up that little dog on the left to add to the pack. I can't really tell how many are there -- 15?

Sorry for the blur, probably shouldn't take pics and drive at the same time ...

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Turtleneck in June?

You would be surprised how difficult it is to find a turtleneck for your baby in June.


Target.com
Carters.com
Gap.com
Sears.com
Costco.com

Thank you, Amazon.com. Oh yes, I bought the last one.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Shhhh ...

I don't think I'm speaking too soon ...

Maybe there could be a bump in the road ahead of us ...

But for the past couple of weeks,

We've been sleeping through the night!

Mr. Mom

I had to take a picture of this image as I left for work.