crunchy

Way back in my college days, I heard the advice to do something each day that scared you. At 18 not enough things had me shaking in my boots to do one each and every day. Besides there was tequila to drink. Flash forward 10 years  to the day I am staring at a positive pregnancy test and I realize life is about to get way more interesting. With way less tequila.

Being a Mama scared me from the day we took our  little bundle of awesomeness out of my womb. He looked so small and the world seemed so large. We soldiered on getting past our first tub bath, conquering the Baby K’Tan sling, and surviving those first few hours away from each other.

I had a huge emotional breakdown with full time work so I chose to stay at home with baby and find part time work.  This was my decision and I was very comfortable with it, but goodness if it didn’t terrify me also. What would my days be like? Who would I be as a parent?  Would I get to shower each day?

I would be able to figure this all out. Our days would take shape around playing, new friends, and smooshy hug fests on the living room floor. Some days I would even shampoo my hair. More importantly though, each day we would do something that would thrill us.

This is a lovely poem that summarizes my feelings about babywearing:

I Will Carry You

I love that I can kiss your head

Just inches away from my lips

Our hearts beat together as I carry you

Perched up high you see my world

Then turn your head in and sleep

Resting on me you are safe

Your body next to mine you are secure

We are in tune in this external womb

In my arms you will be

Until you are ready to venture out

But until then, I promise,

I will carry you.

~ Michelle Abernathy

I believe in miracles.  Ceiling Cat or Santa read my letter from last week’s blog about my wish for a Baby K’Tan Breeze Carrier.  Guess my surprise this morning when I log on to Facebook and discover that I was one of three winners of this carrier at the giveaway that the manufacturer was having on their Facebook page.  Shammy was laughing at me as I did my happy dance, lmao.

So this week  Shammy is in a taste of massive change.  I had been in denial about this for weeks thinking “it’s too soon!” but I can’t ignore the fact that he’s teething!  Oh my goodness.  Once I accepted the fact and did something about ithe is back to happy baby.  I must say that Hyland’s Homeopathic Teething tablets are the bomb,  no Tylenol or Baby Orajel here!  On  a later note, these tablets are now under a voluntary recall, great timing…  So instead I’m now looking to get him an amber teething necklace.

 

He’s also entered the massive hair shedding stage.  He has about half of the hair that he had when he was born and he’s got a bald spot on his head.  All I ask is that he maintains enough hair to have his “fiercehawk” for his Blessing ceremony next week.  After that he can go bald for all I care as I know that it’ll grow back in due back.

 

As much as I love sleeping until I wake up naturally, I must admit that when both of my boys come to wake me because the little boy is ready to eat I just get the best feeling and no desire to press the snooze button.  That’s the best way to wake up in the morning.

I’m back to work but this time I’m doing it right, gradually.  I’ve landed some part time work that doesn’t keep me away from baby for too long during the day and I’m constantly busy while working unlike at my old job where I had too much time to think about how much I miss him.  It’s not a steady number of hours but it is better than nothing and I’m enjoying it.  I no longer dread working.

I’m still in the process of bringing Bandora’s Lair/Healing Treasures out of hibernation.  The website is up but not finished but at least most of the info is up.  I haven’t started promoting yet because there are a lot of elements that I need to finish and it’s taking me longer than usual because I’m regularly interrupted by a cute baby.  You can check it out at www.soulhealingtreasures.com and pardon the dust let me know of any broken links.

 

And interesting side effect of motherhood is the development of selective bionic hearing.  After damaging my hearing by dancing on top of too many giant speakers in my late teens I have trouble understanding what my husband says when standing right next to me but I can clearly hear Shammy sucking his thumb or sighing 2 rooms over.  I don’t need no baby monitor, lol.

I was sitting in a bench outside of the fitting rooms at Walmart nursing my baby while getting a wide array of stares that kept me amused during the whole nursing session.  I’m 100% comfortable with public nursing but many moms are not and many babies like Shammy can’t stand nursing covers so I got to thinking about what could be done to help more moms overcome this obstacle to breastfeeding.

I thought about lobbying commercial interests and potentially government to make access to breastfeeding friendly spaces such as the Mother’s Room at Babies R’ Us, that is when I came across an amazing concept  Mom’s Breastaurant and I was thrilled.  This is a non-profit that sets up a private and quiet place at festivals, concerts and fairs for nursing mothers to breastfeed.  Even somebody like me that doesn’t mind being seen nursing would benefit from this because let’s face it, it can be near impossible to find a place to sit at some events and babies can become distracted.  I love this concept and can’t wait for it to make its way to Florida, perhaps I may have to get involved for this to happen!

Last Saturday we got to use Shammy’s 4th Halloween costume, devil baby.  It was soo cute!  He was sleep deprived and teething leading to a cranky baby whose face color matched his costume but we were able to get a normal looking picture: