Spit Up Clean Up, Part II

It has been raining non-stop for what feels like months. It's really only been three days, but that's enough. Call me lazy, but I have no desire to get out of the house with a baby and her 20-pound carseat and stroller, 10-pound diaper bag, and assorted toys and blankets in the pouring rain. It's just way too much trouble. So, we've spent the better part of the last few days in the house avoiding the rain and the germy (potentially swine-flu infected) masses. Okay, not really but I feel a little less lazy when I use my child's welfare as my excuse for not leaving the house for three days. In an effort to be productive and to have something to do with myself while we have been cooped up inside, I have been perusing Etsy for fun stuff Hadley might need. Or, that I might want her to need.

One thing we never seem to have enough of is burp cloths. We use them for everything-- cleaning up spit up, of course, but also for drool, spills, and general wipe downs. I usually use those white organic, Gerber cloth diapers that you can buy in bulk for these clean ups, but sometimes, it's just fun to have pretty ones around to liven things up. And, to make up for the fact that I routinely change clothes three times before noon because someone keeps spitting peaches on me.

Right now, I am loving modern, graphic burp cloths. Here are a few I found that make me drool.

1. Etsy shop boopalinabebe's Eco Modern Burp Cloth in I Mod Pod, $10-- I love anything in blue and green and this pattern is amazing!

2. Etsy Shop BabyMomo's Green Dots Chenille Burp Cloth, $7-- perfect for a boy or girl and I'm loving polka dots right now.

3. Etsy Shop HazelMay's set of 2 burp cloths in Disco in Mango, $10-- pink without being too girly or froufrou. Can you tell I have a thing for dots?

4. Etsy Shop Whimzeeebaby's Yellow Sparrow Burpies, set of 3, $22 (two prints and one solid)-- I love the birds and can't get enough orange right now. This would be gorgeous for a boy or girl, too!

Next up: Bibs. You have to fight fire with fire. Or, in this case, the buckets of drool with beautiful bibs. It's the only way.

Mom-A-Thon: Free Mother's Day Cards

Thanks to My Mom Shops, I recently learned that Kodak Gallery is holding a Mom-a-Thon, in which it is giving away one million free Mother's Day photo cards. I love deals and you can't beat a personalized gift! I spent an hour this afternoon making cards for Hadley's grandmothers and they turned out great. Only one card was free, but the price for the other two cards was only $2.95 each, plus $.99 each for shipping and handling. You can hardly get a generic Hallmark card for $2.95. A personalized photo card for that price is a steal! There's still time to order if you don't have gift ideas yet for mom or grandma.

Swine Flu Hysteria

So, apparently, there may be a case or two of swine flu in our area. In fact, the child who may be sick lives and attends school in a neighboring town that we visit often. The hysteria among my friends is palpable. Just watching the news or surfing Facebook is enough to make me never want to leave our house again. But, we are trying not to be alarmed, as suggested, right now. We are, however, going to limit our outings with Sweet Pea as much as possible.

I'm trying to think of fun things we can do in the house or in the general vicinity that will keep both Hadley and I occupied-- and most importantly, that will keep me from going stir-crazy. So far, I've got nothing. We usually go to the park and library, for neighborhood walks, to lunch with friends, and to a playgroup to occupy some time, but I'm going to try to cut out the playgroup and library for the time being. That doesn't leave a whole lot for us to do. I'll keep you posted on my sanity!

Favorite Days: First Trip to the Zoo

This last weekend, we packed up the stroller and sunscreen and made our way to the local zoo. We had been planning to take Hadley to the zoo all spring and were just waiting on the perfect, warm weekend to do so. This weekend, we finally had both good weather and the time to devote to a full day at the zoo. It was great-- warm, breezy, and pretty. I think Hadley had a good time, but I say "think" because we didn't get a huge reaction from her. She seemed a lot more interested in the crowds of people than she did the animals. In fact, she seemed more intent on the ground and trees in most exhibits than she did the animals. I'm thinking this will get better as she gets a little older.

Hadley did really well, though, given that she had absolutely no idea what was going on. She did a lot of this, which is a relatively new trick for her...

She also ended up sleeping for some of our trip. We did manage to see lots of animals before she fell asleep, though. We saw lions and tigers and bears... but, Hadley's favorite had to be the elephants. She really seemed to notice them since they are so huge and were so close to us. She also liked the polar bears. They put on a great show, swimming and playing with a ball. Who wouldn't like that?

At the end of the day, we were hot, exhausted, and ready to go home. But, I am so glad we went. I grew up taking trips to this zoo and every time I return, I am reminded of my childhood and all of those great-- and extremely hot-- family and school trips. I want Hadley to have the same types of memories, and with the season passes we just bought, we're well on our way!

Dancing, Dancing, Dancing

Does anyone read GOOP.com? It's Gwyneth Paltrow's newsletter and while I don't ordinarily read it, I found a link to one of her fitness posts while perusing a popular celebrity site. In the post, GP provides a link to a cardio dance number created by trainer Tracy Anderson. According to GP, you just learn the dance number and when you have free time, turn on some music and dance away the pounds. I'm always looking for ways to work out at home because I never have time to go to a gym anymore. My Wii Fit fits the bill quite nicely, but even then, I don't always have the time or room to pull out the Fit Board.

So, I thought this dance thing might work nicely-- and I was so right! I learned the little number in about 10 minutes and have been doing it non-stop ever since. It's easy and I can do it to any music-- whether it's Hadley's Baby Einstein cd's or a dance mix. Or, sometimes, I dance to no music at all and just count out the steps cheerleading style. That's really amusing to watch, I'm sure. But, the great thing is that I need very little room to do this workout, I can do it while Hadley is playing and still keep an eye on her, and I get a great workout doing it. Much more so even than with the Wii Fit aerobics. Check it out if you are looking for an easy way to work out around the baby's schedule.

Spit Up Clean Up

Okay, speaking of being a clean freak, I don't know what to do about the spit up. Hadley is constantly on her tummy. I can't keep her off of it. And the pressure on her tummy causes her to spit up. I put big quilts down on the floor to cushion her play area (since we have hardwood floors under the rugs), and I am constantly washing them to clean up the inevitable spit up. Today, she managed to spit up on the rug, her blanket, and her boppy all in the span of about 20 seconds. The kid is talented.

Do all babies do this? Is there just no alternative to the constant spit up? I've tried putting her in her exersaucer immediately after meals to let her food settle some, but the pressure of the tray on her tummy causes spit up, too. And, she won't tolerate being held until her food settles. She squirms and squirms to get down and play. I'm telling you-- this kid is active. Or, maybe I should say ACTIVE.

I'm at a loss... or maybe this is just another aspect of baby-dom that I need to get used to. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Neat-Nick

Definition of a neat-nick: Somebody that is obsessive about cleanliness. Source: the Urban Dictionary.

For all you English majors out there, yes, I just cited to the Urban Dictionary. Because I can.

Have I mentioned that I am a bit of a clean freak? I might have forgotten to mention that in my attempt not to scare off the two of you who are reading this. But, I am going to come clean (pun intended) and lay all my cards on the table. I am such a neat freak. I don't like clutter, I don't like dust, I don't like dirty dishes in the sink, I don't even like for the mail to sit on the kitchen counter for more than ten minutes after we bring it in the house. I know. It's a bad, bad thing, but I'm cursed with it.

Lately, with the Sweet Pea on the move, my house and specifically, my living room, is less and less neat and more and more about the toys. The TOYS! They are everywhere. When Hadley is playing, she manages to scatter toys for miles. I find them under furniture, in adjoining rooms, and sometimes in her clothes.

And the toys you see in the above picture are only a tiny fraction of the TOYS that are lurking in just about every nook and cranny of our house. For some reason, I keep picking them up like that is going to help. I organize them and store them in cute wicker baskets, put them in neat driftwood bowls that are sitting on my modern coffee table, and even hide them in the drawers of my mid-century credenza. But, they just keep reappearing on my living room floor. It's like they come to life at night and organize a march on my living room. Because never fail, by the end of each day, my living room floor is covered, seriously, in TOYS.

I'm hoping that one day soon, we can re-purpose our library, dining room, or guest room, all of which are rarely used, into a permanent play room for Hadley. Then, I can re-take my living room from the toys. Until then, I'll just relish the delight they bring Hadley and try not to cringe when I realize I haven't seen my rug in weeks. That small act, my friends, is huge for a neat freak. The things we'll do for those smiles.

She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not...

Sometimes I wonder if Hadley knows I'm her mommy or if she just sees me as a source for food and frustration. Most of yesterday, I was pretty sure she just wanted me to go away. She was unhappy and whiny, and I'm just going to blame teething again, even if I don't yet see a tooth. Really, there is nothing else that could be wrong with the kid, but I'd like to see at least the slightest sliver of a tooth just so I have some confirmation that that is what has turned my sweet, laughing, adorable child into a moaning monster. I tried everything, too, including Orajel, teething rings, toys, a Baby Einstein movie, books, and nothing was working. So, I made the executive decision that we would lounge in my bed and watch TLC all afternoon while we waited for Daddy to get home. That was better.

At about 5:00, I dragged us out of bed, sat Hadley in her high chair at the kitchen table, and started dinner. Oh, and I was making a bottle, loading the dishwasher, and getting Hadley's veggies ready to go at the same time. This is typically how I operate. If I am not doing fifty things at once, I'm not being productive. But yesterday, I just didn't have my act together.

On my way across the kitchen to drop some potatoes into the just-boiling pot of water, I slipped on a few drops of water and fell flat-out on the floor. It was one of those slow-motion falls where you see yourself falling for like five minutes and you flounder about trying to catch yourself before you hit the floor. I watched the potatoes fly out of my hands in a giant arc and land in the pot of water, splashing water all over the counter. Totally embarrassing. And, as if that wasn't enough, at the exact moment I hit the floor, Hadley let out a screech and started bawling crying. So, here I am lying on the floor with a throbbing knee with water all over my clothes and Hadley screaming in the background. It was one of those moments where I just wanted to push pause and lay there until I could start the day over.

Since I couldn't seem to will that to happen, I leaned around the cabinets from the floor and tried to reassure Hadley that I was a-okay and that a bottle was still forthcoming. More wailing ensued. I then pried myself off the floor and hobbled over to her, feeling every bit of my 32 years. And just as soon as I leaned in to kiss Hadley and comfort her, she smiled at me. A big, beaming, tear-stained smile. I think she was actually worried about me.

Well, that or she was worried about who was going to fix her next bottle if I was hurt. But, either way, I'll take any smile I can get. It made the day so much better!

Weekend Rain

We woke up Sunday morning to a loud thunderstorm and pouring rain. The bedroom was dark and the bed was snuggly and warm. There's nothing like that feeling of security and warmth when you're tucked into bed and the world is crashing down outside. Rain was so not what I had planned for Sunday morning, though. I had flowers and herbs to plant, I needed to weed our flower beds, and we needed to repair a window frame. But, boy was I happy to see that rain. It was like a hall pass for the adults. As soon as I realized my morning chores were being washed out by rain, I almost jumped for joy. Then I realized it was much smarter to stay in my nice, warm bed. Just the thought of free time and potentially more sleep was exhilarating. That's what happens when you live with a tiny terror who relentlessly wakes you up at odd hours.

We put Hadley in bed with us and snoozed, snuggled, and watched cartoons until the rain slowed down. Then, Sean made pancakes. Lots and lots of paper-thin, crepe-like pancakes. The rest of the weekend was pretty lazy, too. It rained off and on with the sun coming out just long enough to taunt us. We managed to venture out for a family lunch and to run a few errands, but with all of that yucky weather, we spent most of the weekend holed up inside. We watched old movies, spent lots of time playing on the floor with Hadley, and generally just lazed about. Oh, and I might have taken some pictures of Hadley for fun. She loved it, though. She always does.

Spaghetti Night Revisited

I have tomatoes coming out of my ears right now. As of this morning, I had a dozen tomatoes in the fridge and no idea as to what to do with them. Apparently, I have amnesia while shopping and just keep buying tomatoes despite the fact that we haven't eaten a fraction of what we already have. And we don't usually eat a lot of tomatoes. We make salsas, salads, and sandwiches with them, but we certainly don't polish off enough to need a bushel at a time. So, I started thinking about what I could do with them. In my free time this afternoon-- ha ha-- I searched around online for some dinner ideas and finally stumbled upon a recipe called "Mediterranean Pasta with Fire Roasted Tomatoes." Actually, it's more of an advertisement than a recipe, but the overall method and idea sounded great.

Essentially, this dish requires that you roast about 2 pounds of tomatoes that have been drizzled with a garlic and herb-infused olive oil. Then, when the tomatoes are nice and brown and soft, you crush half of them with a little more olive oil and mix that and the remaining tomatoes with spaghetti or fettuccine. Sounds delish, right? It was!

It was light, simple, flavorful, and so easy to make. I roasted the tomatoes and boiled the pasta while I fed Hadley. Then, we whipped up a quick salad, and dinner was ready. I adore quick and easy weeknight meals, and there's nothing like family spaghetti night. Only, this was nothing like the spaghetti and marinara of my childhood. It's a grown-up version with a kick. And it will probably be making an appearance at our house again next week.