Why am I Still Awake?

goodnight.

Almost Famous

How about a scavenger hunt?

Go to a Wal-Mart.

Walk to the candy aisle.

Find a bag of Reese's Pieces.

Go to the news stand.

Find a magazine called "All You."

Make sure it is issue 4, dated May 4th 2007.

Take the Reese's and the magazine and pay for them. Go outside.

Eat the chocolate, flip to page 89 and never buy anything at Wal-mart ever again.

Because I Can

She's more helpful undoing laundry than doing laundry, but she looks good while she's at it.

She almost laughed today and she's making gurgling, baby noises a little bit. Sometimes she surprises herself when she talks.

The Three Firsts Today

1. Dahlia attended her first soccer game. All the loud noises startled her, but she didn't cry.

2. Dahlia laid on her "Boppy" pillow. A Boppy is a 2-foot wide, C-shaped baby pillow. She laid on her stomach for "tummy time." It lasted around 3 minutes until her head got heavy. Thanks Cedric and Chan for the Boppy!

3. And lastly, she sat in her Bumbo chair for the first time! The Bumbo is a foam chair that props the baby up. All the kid has to do is hold up her head. Supposedly, this starts at 3 months, but she's rockin' the Bumbo at 7 weeks.

Yesterday CandyGram brought her dad and Mayme over for lunch.

And for posterity's sake; some dog photos.

Time for a walk!

Muppet, of course, is a stomach with legs. She always goes for the pascifier and on the occasion when she snags one off the table, she's dissappointed to learn that it doesn't taste like anything and it doesn't even make a good chew toy! They do, however make good trophies and they're perfect for burying in the back yard.

Today, Mups chased bunny rabbits from inside the house. She ran from the front windows to the back deck for two hours. I think she got quite a workout.

Wonderland has new pants.

Hey Wonderland readers,

My tech guy ; ) has created a link so you can subscribe to my blog. If you subscribe, you get an email when I add a new post to the site. Plus you get bragging rights since you'll then be a member of my exclusive online club.

There is also a new, added feature to my site in which you can email a post to someone. Just click the link at the bottom of the post.

I'm also thinking of reinstating the "comments" so readers can post feedback. Please email me if you have a preference.

Wonderland is now over two years old and it's great to read back and look down the mountain.

Cheers ya'll and thank you to the tech guy!

Kids These Days

Yesterday, I had my friend Ellen over to help me unpack some boxes from the move.

When I was a senior in high school, I baby-sat Ellen and her siblings. Ellen is the youngest and everyone she meets loves her curly black hair so much they touch it; friends and strangers. It used to drive her dad nuts.

4 1/2 short years ago Ellen was the flower girl at my wedding. Now she's in 8th grade, wears big hoop earrings and dates boys who can drive! She's at a point where everyone around her has to admit she's growing up.

Now for the embarrassing part.

I asked her what the kids are wearing these days to see how out of touch I am. Surf culture is back in style (God bless the 80's, which were totally radical). Popular clothing stores are Abercrombie, American Eagle and Hollister. Also, the kids don't like Britney Spears and won't admit to liking Hilary Duff, although they own her CDs. I'm sure Paris Hilton just seems old. The kids are listening to rap and R&B. Today, I learned that kids as young as 8 own Ipod Nanos!

Ellen was recalling some of her friends who drive different cars to their after school activities based on the weather or their plans for the day. They will drive the truck one day and the sports car the next day. I've seen the kids around here and I know she's not kidding. At that point in the conversation I actually said, "What is the world coming to?..." and then I said "wow, I sound old..." and then I freaked out because people used to say that to ME! And I used to think, "yeah, you're old."

So, Damn it! I'm old!

Upon further soul searching, I have come to peace with my age since I have such a wonderful life and there's no way I'd want to go back to being an 8th grader. Hell no.

Tori Spelling & Breast Pumps

Tori Spelling

Tori and I have a lot in common right now. We had our first babies at the same time, we're both up in the middle of the night feeding, we both have a new house (she's got a new bed-in-breakfast and a TV show about it) and we both have mom's named Candy.

Tori's mom would not be called "grandma" and opted for the baby to call her "Candy-gram." I thought it was cute so I ran it by my mom. She liked it too since D has so many grandmothers. Grandmas have the right to name themselves for their grandchildren. My dad's mom, for instance, is called "Gramma".

I'm not a huge Tori fan and I never watched 90210 or paid any attention to her family, but now we're kindred spirits (whether she likes it/ knows it or not). At 2 am I know that Tori is up feeding or pumping for her son Liam.

After one google search I found this Tori quote from her website.

I might be a biased mommy but he is so beautiful. I just stare at him in amazement. I can’t believe I have been given this unbelievable little gift. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. He is my little angel baby and I had no idea you could love someone you’ve only known for 4 days this much. But, my heart is jumping out of my chest with love. Mommihood ROCKS!

I pretty much feel the same way she does, except I wouldn't use the term "mommihood" and I certainly wouldn't spell it that way if I would.

Hmm. more perusing of Tori's website... neither her or her husband went to college. Zach Braff is one of her friends. Apparently, so is Adrienne Curry and Adrienne has a link to her own porny ad for her show...

These websites/ myspace pages, including mine, are scary because they have so much personal information. I almost feel like I'm prying when I read Tori's. Like the site should be for her family and friends only, but then, her life is for sale. She's on a reality TV show...

Anyway... on to... you guessed it!

Breast Pumps

A breast pump is typically a toaster-sized bag which holds a small motor. The motor provides a suction to which two air tubes are attached on one end. On the opposite end of the tubes, funnel-shaped breast cups are positioned against the nipples. Also attached to the breast cups are 4 oz. bottles which store the "expressed" or pumped breast milk.

Breast pumps are a wonderful thing because they ensure that the baby will always have breast milk. When I leave the house to run errands or go to an appointment, I can express a bottle of milk (3-4 ounces). I can take it with me so I don't have to worry about breastfeeding in the car or at my destination. Also, It's easier to leave a bottle than a boob with a babysitter.

Wonderful things about breast pumps:

• Hospitalized, premature babies can have expressed breast milk and don't have to rely on formula. Breast milk is the best thing ever for a baby. Man-made formulas don't even hold a candle to the health benefits of breast milk.
• Women can work or have a life and still feed their babies breast milk
• When baby's feedings become further apart, mom can express milk to relieve the uncomfortable feeling of engorgement. I liken engorgement to a full bladder. It feels better when relieved.
• When baby drinks her milk from a bottle, she takes it faster than if she were breast-feeding, which can take up to an hour and a half. She can down a 4 oz. bottle in 10 minutes. This is great at 3 am when I'm tired because a) the feeding is over faster and b) the baby falls asleep faster because the endorphines she gets from the milk hit her all at once. It's like drinking alcohol. If you drink 3 shots in in 1 hour, the effect is different than if you drink 3 shots in 3 hours.
• When milk is in the bottle, dad can feed the baby. This means mom can sleep, make dinner, finish other chores or sleep.

Expressing milk is a beautiful thing. It's just weird to talk about because... it's kind of a weird thing to do and get used to. But let me tell you, engorgement is NOOO picnic.

Ha-Ha

As Jeff Foxworthy said and my sister reminded me, "babies are nauseated by the smell of a clean shirt!"

Dad Baby-Talk

B just fed the baby with a bottle and now she's digesting (sometimes painful) and deciding if she wants more, or if she's full. He's holding her and talking to her while she fusses and wiggles around.

I find it all endearing.

"Don't puke in my face please."
"You're standing!"
"Reach out and touch someone, dad's right here!" (Baby's got both arms outstretched.)
"Are you an owl? (Baby's making ooo noises.)
"Whaaat dumpling?" (Baby's fussing.)
"Can you smile for dad? No, that's a frown. C'mon pumpkin..."
"Ooh. Aw shit!" (Baby puked.)
"Puke right here. C'mon. Let it out. I know it's there. Get it on the towel. That's not fair!"
"What do you want? Do you want a binky? No.... Mom's bringing the boob over..."

On Friday B bottle fed the baby and burped her before he went to work so I could sleep in an extra 20 minutes. Apparently she managed not only to puke on his shirt, but also on his pants.

She puked on his shirt again today.

I learned on Thursday to bring an extra shirt when I go out as she managed to puke on me while I was out shopping. I wore that puke like a battle scar!

Dahlia's First Smile!

Yesterday, Dahlia smiled intentionally for the first time!

"I love smiling! It's my favorite!" -Elf

Promises Promises

Tori Spelling and I have a few things in common right now. I need to write about them.
-Baby
-Candygram

I also need to write about a subject I believe is taboo since no one ever talks about it. It's an uncomfortable topic for men and women alike, but the contraption is so necessary I want to put it out there for all you future parents. Ready? Breast pumps! Stay tuned...

More neighbors: bald eagle, hummingbird

I'm holding a sleeping baby and she's hot! She wants to be swaddled, but then she gets heat rash; tiny red bumps all over her body.

more later ya'll.

ps. Brody, I need a link to "House Projects" because they're already starting. I'm going to try to use that google page thing we talked about. (Deck gate, Hawaii hot tub)

Way Too Cute

I returned from a dentist appointment this week to find my dad, the baby-sitter, holding D with one hand and holding her pacifier in with his other hand. It was very cute. My dad had his reading glasses on, which I haven't seen him wear often. The whole scene made me feel all grown up... and very lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life.
These are quintessential "dad" pictures because he's wearing a Metro Transit sweatshirt. He worked at Metro his whole life and retired a couple years ago. To me, his image is closely intertwined with Metro and public transportation.
Also, my dad used to have a mop of blond hair, but now has a mop of grey hair. I predict that in another few years, he'll have a white hair like his dad.
I think he ended up holding the baby for her entire 3-hour nap, which he was perfectly happy doing.

April First

Yesterday, Sunday April 1st marked baby Dahlia's 4 week birthday!

We had family over to celebrate this milestone along with B's grandprents 65th wedding anniversary, a couple birthdays, 2 new houses between all of us, spring and Easter.

Great Grandpa Lawrence and Great Grandma Marjorie Fern

"I'm celebrating pig-tails!"

So Many Grandparents!

Thanks to the booming divorce rate in our collective families, our daughter has 6 grandparents and 8 (living) great-grandparents.

Last week B's mom was in town and the 4 of us went to Mukilteo to lunch with B's grandmother.

It's Sunny!

While we were walking along the water, we came across my grandparents! My grandpa and his wife live north of Seattle and they frequently drive down to the water to people watch. I could not believe that we happened to run into them.

It was the first time these three great-grandparents got to meet their great-grand daughter.

Blurbs & Photos

When making a bed of any kind, I make it as if it were mine; with 8 layers of fleece and cotton. That’s why Miss Princess and the pea sleeps like Little Miss Muffet on her ever-pink tuffet. Remember, it is impossible to spoil a child less than 6 months of age.

"...So tired I'm going cross-eyed!"

"When mom dresses me in green, I throw up until she puts me back in pink."

Cell Phone= Flash Light
I had to pat myself on the back for my (desperate) ingenuity when I began using my cell phone as a flash light. When I prepare to nurse the midget at night, I slide open my Chocolate and I can see for a few seconds. We don’t have bedside lamps yet because we just moved in.

Tap the System
Thanks to my poor posture, breast feeding and carrying the baby around, my back is killing me! I asked my doctor to prescribe massage therapy and she wouldn’t. She told me to sit up straight. Damn it! What good is having insurance if I don’t exploit every last opportunity to use it? (The same rule doesn’t apply to my gym membership.)