Happy One Month Birthday!

Happy One Month Birthday Baby Cash!

Look at those cute socks MorMor!

We had a brief Dr. Sharpie visit today. Here are the updates.

• Cash weighs 9lbs 12oz (that's a 28oz weight gain in about 2.5 weeks). Dr. Sharpie was very happy with his weight gain. He is in the 50th percentile.
• Cash is now 21.5 inches tall. He is in the 25th percentile.
• All of Cash's laboratory work from his 2 weeks visit came back normal.
• I told Dr. Sharpie that I was a little concerned about all of his spit-up, but she said not to worry that it's very normal for babies to spit-up at every feeding. She wasn't the least bit concerned especially considering his generous weight gain (hee . . hee, that's what Dr. Elephant told me when I'd gain a lot of weight, but in Cash's case it's a VERY GOOD thing).
• Cash seems to be favor looking to one side (his left). I think this is because he looks to his left when he looks out the window from his bed and because of the way I feed him. Dr. Sharpie said that if we switch up his bed position and the position I feed him in, it should be corrected. We certainly don't want little man to have a flat spot on the left side of his head.
  

Our next Dr. Sharpie visit is in one month.

Metamorphosis To Motherhood - Meeting One

I mentioned last week that I was joining a new mothers support group and for that decision I received some grief (ahem . . Liz & Jen). Well today was my first meeting (we meet for the next three Wednesdays in May).

We started at 10:00 AM with a walk on a trail (somewhere in Round Rock) and then headed back to the hostess's house for brunch and a guest speaker.

Our guest speaker (Rita) is a certified holistic nurse. Our topic (and this is especially for Liz) for the day was, "Energy work and healing: Love and the holiness in bonding, spiritual practice to help in bonding". Even for me, I don't really understand this title, but the main point was that as mothers we need to tend to ourselves first before we can be good for our children (like the airplane thing where you put the mask on yourself and then help children). According to our speaking, babies have lots of life force energy (her words, not mine) because they are growing and they will give to us exactly what we give to them.

I know this sounds kind of new-age-ish, but it actually makes a ton of sense. If I'm calm, Cash is calm. Babies mimic what they feel, hear and see and when moms are well-rested (an oxymoron if there ever was one), relaxed and happy - babies respond positively. Our speaker also mentioned that having a baby will often bring any subconscious issues that the mother is having to the surface. She gave a pretty cool example (that's just too long to explain on the blog), but essentially, an eleven month old baby was trying to walk with her legs sticking straight out (like a V) and couldn't step forward because of the positioning of her legs. Turns out, the mother had leg casts and braces on her own legs for about a year of her life starting at around eleven months. The baby's V leg position was the same position the mother's legs were in while in the cast. The mother didn't realize she had this issues from her past, but as soon as she dealt with it (within a day), her baby started walking.

OK, I guess I did kind of give the entire example. Like I said, I know this sounds kind of goofy, but this particular case was documented by a couple psychologists along with several other less extreme examples.

The basic message - Happy Momma = Happy Baby.

I really enjoyed meeting the other four other mothers in the group. We all have boys. Cash is the second youngest (one month tomorrow), the youngest will be one month on Saturday, there's another who is 5.5 weeks and two babies who are 15 weeks. Two of the mothers are 33, and one mother is 24 and the other is 25.

Attending this group also made me realize that Cash is a pretty content and happy baby. He fusses now and again (but usually only when he's hungry or fighting sleep), but nothing like what some of these women were describing.

All the other mothers said Cash has awesome hair - even though, I think it'll fall out in a couple of months. They also really liked his name . . . did I mention that I LIKE these women?

OK, now game time (with pictures).

We're going to play - Where's Cash? (like where's Waldo).

Can you find "Happy Cash"?



Can you find "Pissed Off Cash"? (Taken about two seconds after "Happy Cash")


Can you find "Funny Face Cash"? (Taken about two seconds after "Pissed Off Cash")

A 5K

What? A running post on a blog about running?

This morning I went for another run (jog). Buttin and I are trying out this new morning schedule so that hopefully I'll be able to run some mornings.

4:30 (about) - whenever (around 5:45): I feed Cash, pump and get ready for my run. (I TRY to get Cash back to sleep)
5:45 - 6:45: I run (and hopefully Cash and Buttin sleep)
6:45: Buttin wakes up and heads to work (not having showered or worked out)
8:30: Cash and I go to work.
10:00: Buttin goes to work out, shower, run errands and get mail.
12:30: Buttin gets back to work.
1:00: Cash and I head home.

This schedule worked relatively well this morning, except Cash woke up pretty grumpy around five minutes after I walked out the door. Buttin usually wakes up at 6:00 every morning, so he technically got to sleep in a few extra minutes, but had to contend with an unhappy baby.

OK, so back to my 5K! My time was 34:40. My PR is 27:56. It was a slow run, but it felt very good and the weather was nice. I felt productive getting up and moving around (in an non doing laundry kind of way).

When Cash and I got home today (after working very hard) we decided to take a nap. I have so many pictures of Cash and Buttin sleeping, but not very many of Cash and me sleeping. You'll just have to imagine me laying next to him and take my word for it, we were darn cute.

Your Daily Cash

I got a little busy today, but here is your daily Cash picture. He cracks me up all day long.

Bath Time!

Buttin and I have discovered that giving Cash a bath at night really helps him to relax and get ready for bed.

He really enjoys bath time (I don't think I would believe he was my kid if he didn't like the water), but it's difficult to take a picture of him while we're giving him a bath (with all the making sure his head doesn't go underwater and such stuff), but while my mom was in town she took a few pictures.

I love this picture because he just looks really pissed that I'm washing his butt (although, I promise he does enjoy his nightly bath).

The Lizzeuphemism

My friend Liz is many things. She's fabulous, loyal and never has a problem telling you exactly what she thinks. What is it she always says . . ."I am often wrong, but never in doubt"or something similar?

Liz is also fiercely protective of anyone she loves (including me) and she frequently questions things that I do (like buying Cadbury Eggs off the interweb) that she doesn't approve of or doesn't quite "get".

She didn't "get" hypnobabies at all. In fact, I was motivated to write this post based upon her comments to my postpartum appointment post.

I was absolutely rolling on the floor when I read this comment:

Metamorphosis into Motherhood...really?

I sometimes feel like you joined cult with that hypnobabies thing...they don't call things what they are which, to me, is a sign of being out of touch with reality.

For example:

Excruciating pain = slight discomfort
Labor = birthing waves
Drugs to alleviate labor pain = WTF? No way!

What next? Here is how I think these people would like you to describe other common words:

Taxes = Financial Support of Government Programs
Murder = Assisted Transition to the Afterlife
Broken Arm = Bone in Need of R&R
Fatal Car Accident = Vehicular Inconvenience
Dog Bite = Canine Love Nibble
Cat Scratch = Feline Love Tap
Arson = Intentional Roasting of Home & Humans
Kidnapping = Relocation by Unknown People
Ransom = Financial Assistance to Babysitter at an Undisclosed Location

If you start drinking weird Kool Aid and use terms like the ones I described above or if you and Matt decide to move to a commune with your Doula I will lead an intervention. Or your Doula's Assisted Transition to the Afterlife. Really. You can bet on it.

As you can tell, Liz is a fan of complete disclosure and the brutal truth. Don't sugar coat anything for her.

In honor of my friend Liz, I've come up with my own Lizzeuphemisms for motherhood:

Starvation = Desire for food

Sleep Deprivation = Desire for sleep

Baby Poop = Child's gift to parent (or caregiver)

Baby Crying/Screaming = Childhood communication technique

Spit-up = Another gift from child to parent (or caregiver)

Diaper Rash = Tooshie skin ailment

Now, here's an adorable picture of Cash even though he has baby acne (lizzeuphemism - baby acne = little face bumps)

Another Run! Another Run!

This morning I went for another run (jog).

I only went 2.6 miles, but I felt a ton better than I did last week. I think this probably had more to do with a little more sleep (thanks MorMor) than my training schedule (feed Cash, pump, work, do laundry, sleep)

I ran for 29 minutes and 30 seconds making my per mile average of 11:34, which is excellent pace for me if I'm running 15 miles, but a little on the slow side for doing less than three. Oh well, I enjoyed it.