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October 23, 2007
atoms are made of electrons and protons and neutrons
As much as i hate sharing walls and floors and common areas, i really love living in the city. i love living in this neighborhood. I love that things are close. Now that i have more time than anything else, i have been enjoying our neighborhood on foot. last wednesday I walked over to meet ben who was at meeting at a school close to us. we walked down to the bagel and had a yummy lunch. going out now is a lot easier now that i am comfortable nursing in public.
today I walked the twenty minutes to aiden's 2 month check-up. It was a nice crisp fall day. Aiden is now 10 lbs 8 oz. 23 inches. He is obviously doing great with the breastfeeding. He eats often during the day, but is now getting more organized and slept 4 hours straight last night. Things are getting better in that department. He also got a bunch of vaccinations and is not feeling so well. Poor baby.
After the appt we walked over to an area of shopping to assemble stuff for liz's birthday gift. Then we walked home. I love walking to live my life. I love having the time to walk to the dr and the store.
i've made up a new song for aiden. it starts: atoms are made of electrons and protons and neutrons
it goes on to talk about quarks. it is awesome.
Posted by christina at 2:36 PM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2007
I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words
it is amazing to me that so many people expect their babies to do what most adults cannot do - go to sleep easily and by themselves.
i smell like sunscreen despite having taken a shower. the sun shines brilliantly today and so i remember prerun sunscreen.
i run slowly, but my heart rate is high - in the 150s - much higher than the elliptical.
lots of random people walk on the lakefront on the weekend.
ben hates comcast so much that we are going satellite tomorrow. it will end up quite a bit cheaper. my only requirements was the discovery health channel and universal hd for my daily northern exposure. i heart northern exposure. it is so. much. better than any tv on now. it reenforces my distain for gray's anatomy. northern exposure doesn't have any stupid girls obsessed with their love lives. it has interesting storylines with interesting characters.
life is about choices, and today as i spend the afternoon, as i do most, laying in bed facilitating the afternoon nap, i am happy i've made this choice - where i have little to do besides grow the baby. of course, lt is sweeter when i am avoiding something - today - the reviewers comments for a paper. I did read them and they aren't scary. I just always want reviewers to come back with oh - this is great, no changes, but of course, this is not their job. but it takes me a week or so to accept that they aren't personal and to go about deciding how to respond. but it is hard when you just want to lay in bed and watch northern exposure.
Posted by christina at 2:19 PM | Comments (0)
October 18, 2007
i find it kinda of funny / i find it kinda sad
there is a such thing as being too unconfrontational.
there is also a such thing as being too confrontational.
I have always shyed away from conflict, to the point where i know that i should be better about standing up for myself.
having a kid has made me more apt to stand up for us in situations that i would have just waited out. there is nothing like a screaming child who just wants to get home and eat to spring me into action.
on one of the streets home today - a side street that is pretty wide, we got stuck behind a dump truck that couldn't get around a moving van. cars could get around the moving van, but instead of moving to the side to let the cars behind go the truck just sat in the middle of the road. after a bit and a lot of honking, i got out and nicely asked the dump truck guy to move a little to his right the cars can pass. He was not happy with the suggestion. I explained that i had a screaming baby and really needed to get by. He got angry and refused to which i just replied, I am sorry that you are having a bad day, i will just call the police and have them deal with the situation. I went back to my car to dial 311 and low and behold the guy moved over and we all got by.
i understood that the guy was frustrated that he could not get by with his dump truck, but did not understand the if i can't get by than you can't get by attitude.
Anyways, we got around and the paranoid part of my brain entertains thought of him coming by and rolling over my car. The rational part of my brian knows that that dude would not give me a second thought. the question really is, why the heck was that truck on the side street? i'm pretty sure big trucks aren't allowed to travel on side streets unless they have business on that street.
Posted by christina at 12:54 PM | Comments (0)
October 16, 2007
i've been everywhere, man
i was cleared for exercise last week. i was excited to return to my 5 mile run, which i did on friday after ben got home. i was nice to take off without the kid and the dog. It was really nice to be able to run to the lake front. With the stroller, i have to walk to the lake b/c of the bumpy sidewalk. I would like to spend the hour running. I thought that i would be forced to wait for ben everyday, but it dawned on me that i can drive to the lake and then run. not that great for the environment (i'll make it up by walking to the grocery store), but good for my very slow runs. this is a good solution until it gets to cold to have him out. then in the spring he'll be big enough for the jogging stroller which will be good to run on sidewalks with.
the weather is so! strange! it is 75 out today. in the middle of october! in chicago! not that i am complaining, but we have had some strange weather this year.
ben got his hair cut off. i laugh every time i look at him.
i'm having motivation issues with some stuff that i should be get done. i could blame it on the lack of sleep. but it is something that i didn't really like to do when i did get sleep. it will get done. someday...
i am totally loving my rss feed sharing feature.
i am also loving my new magazine called the week. it had a tidbit about a family that had a three babies each on Oct. 3 each two years apart. It quotes an "expert" saying that this is a 1 in 75 million chance. I am assuming this is calculated by (1/365)^3 ~1 in 75 million. Of course, this is totally the wrong way to calculate this. This calculation only works if each event is totally random (i.e. you are hit my a meteor on Oct. 3 each two years apart). Having a baby on a certain day is not a random event. There are 10 weeks of the year where you aren't pregnant and therefore couldn't give birth then. The fetus isn't viable until 24 weeks. Therefore there really is only 18 weeks that you could give birth and this is not totally random it is totally dependent on when you are "trying". Anyways, the odds are totally not 1 in 75 million. Assuming that the 18 weeks are random it is more like 1 in 2 million.
this is at least how i think of it. Aiden was born on my mom's birthday. The odds of this happening was 1 in 126 - as the were 126 days this year he could have been born on.
Posted by christina at 3:37 PM | Comments (0)
October 13, 2007
I am a song / I've been here all along
i got a flu shot wednesday. i know that i swore last season that i would not get a flu shot again since i did for the first time last year and GOT THE FLU also for the first time. My new primary care dr convinced me with the baby to get a shot. So I did. I was real dizzy last year after i got the shot and was afraid of a repeat, but no such side effects. I suspect that the dizziness was related to that being around the time i got pregnant and (of course) didn't know.
last night i found a really cool plugin for my page. In the sidebar there is now a box that contains links to interesting stories I've read through my rss reader.
Posted by christina at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2007
under the sea
jenny, aiden and i saw the baby bulga whale at the aquarium today! It was a free day. and we had an excellent time.
Posted by christina at 7:07 PM | Comments (0)
October 10, 2007
i know that everything's going to be fine
i've been living by the train for 5 years now and i still have moments in which i confuse the sound for wind or thunder...
my sister jenny and her b/f are visiting, yay!
the puppy doesn't need surgery.. our awesome vet says her not walking was probably due to cramping due to her GI issues b/c it came on so suddenly and went away suddenly once she felt better.
surgery may still be in our future, but they don't do it unless she is symptomatic, which she is not.
i love the puppy. we will do anything to alleviate her pain. the vet says the joint supplement + exercise + healthy weight seem to be working.
i must mention again our awesome our vet it. i totally have a girl crush on her.
Posted by christina at 4:16 AM | Comments (0)
October 8, 2007
let's see how far we've come
i love matchbox twenty.
i'm sure that makes me less cool. though admitting that i am currently watching them on the today show makes me really not cool.
i spend a.lot.of.time on the couch nursing. i watch a.lot.more tv than i use to, but not as much as i expect.
ok the today show just got STUPID
the puppy is much better today
Posted by christina at 8:55 AM | Comments (0)
October 7, 2007
take these broken wings and learn to fly
so sad about the cubs.
well. so sad for other people. i will be glad to start watching things other than baseball during the evenings. i can put up with a football game a week, but everyday baseball grates on me after 6 months.
as vet-loving as our pets are, it is surprising that we made it this far without a trip to the e.r. until today. Poor pepper. She is really sick. but she will be okay. she is definitely going to have to have surgery on her legs. of course it is a condition not covered by pet insurance. i'm pretty convinced now that pet insurance is a crock. anyways, they hydrated the puppy (she's been quite sick from eating things she shouldn't) and gave us pain meds. we see dr. marks on tuesday. nothing breaks my heart more than the puppy hurting. Mainly because she just doesn't understand.
This is why i am quicker to medicate her or my child than I am myself. (i rarely medicate myself. i took two doses of advil after pushing out aiden and that was it through the whole recovery.) Anyways, because each one can't understand why they are in pain i am quick to try to control it - we have them on pain pills or on reflux meds to control their pain. And,yes, it selfishly makes me feel better because kills me to even think they might be in pain.
Posted by christina at 8:31 PM | Comments (0)
October 3, 2007
do you realize / that you have the most beautiful face
oh to have two hands to type is so nice. I spend a lot of time on the internet reading, typing is hard with one hand. When i do get two hands i usually sleep or so something else then the internet.
the weather is awesome. Last night (and today) can be classified as not great in regards to me getting to sleep. Aiden just wanted to sleep by me (i.e. in bed) or on me (on the couch). We do not co-sleep, but boy I can see why people do. We are too worried about that suffocation thing. It is rare, but it just happened to one of my mom's students (feel asleep nursing her 6 week old in bed, so sad), so we are scared of that (small sample size bias). it is (as i have read) impossible for the mother to smoother her kid (mother's instict they think). So it is usually a pillow or a third body. In the morning once ben gets up at 6, i usually bring aiden to bed. (I have usually been up and down with him since 4,) I nurse then we sleep until 9. It is nice.
Today i was quite tired but i dragged us all out for our walkjog. After I was happy I did it, the the walkjog felt good. The biggest benefit (beside my mental health) is tiring the dog out so we spend the rest of the day asleep on the couch or in the bed. (we all get an afternoon nap in the big bed.) It is amazing how goo it makes me feel just getting out for a little more than an hour in the sunshine. It is excellent b/c i get to take aiden with me. He sleeps. the dog pulls. and i walk/jog.
speaking of running - i got a jogging stroller. i did not register for on b/c (1) he had to be 6 mos to go in one and (2) i know that lots of people around here get jogging strollers and don't use them and then sell them on craig's list for half price. For some reason i became obsessed with jogging strollers on craigslist, even though it would be the spring before i can use it. All the ones i saw were in suburbs. I was willing to drive for a good deal. but low and behold a great stroller for a great price appeared in my old neighborhood. So yesterday I went and got it. I am so excited. I love a good deal. i love craigslist. i love the internet.
I really love the internet. it is full of information. it makes me feel better as there are other people out there with babies aiden's age. It is a good context as they also have babies that like to nurse a lot (though aide has gotten so much better once we figure out his reflux) and don't sleep and just exist.
Posted by christina at 7:25 PM | Comments (0)