2nd Rollover Video

Ok, it's not quite as significant as the first time he rolled over, but I think the 2nd time is pretty cool too. Enjoy!



[If the video doesn't work, download it directly:
http://megan.cosmicpixel.com/2nd_rollover_ever.WMV]

BREAKING NEWS: HE ROLLS!

By Mama M
baby makes three staff reporter

Vancouver, WA, - lil a completed what so many almost-five-month-old babies attempt: a successful rollover maneuver. It's a risky move and as any baby can tell you it involves skill, concentration and a little luck.

He's made several attempts over the last few weeks, all ending in a frustrating rollback. Foot-eating ensued and he grew more and more determined.

Today seemed just like any other day. Maybe it was the complete blow-out that occurred before his successful rollover. Perhaps the bath was perfumed with inspiration. We may never know. What we do know is that he put his feet in his mouth, picked up those tree-trunk legs, swung them around and landed on his belly -- with a what-the-hell-did-I-just-do look on his face.

Ah, sweet victory. What's the next stop for this champion? We'll have to wait and see...all this hard work has earned him a long, quiet nap.

Orgasmic Organic

I'm thinking about signing up Today, I signed up for Organic to You, a Portland-based service that will deliver fresh, organic produce to your house on a regular basis. The best think is that you can pay-as-you-go, which is usually unavailable with other programs like this.

Maybe this will force us to try new recipes and get more produce in our diets. They even have a Baby Add-on that includes baby-friendly foods like bananas, sweet potatoes, etc.

They even deliver to Suburbia. Ooh, this will really get my neighbors going

Mama, you so crazeeee

I always feel like somebody's watching meeeee

As you know, we live in Suburbia, that iconic place where the sun is always shining and children are out safely playing happily together in the cul-de-sac. Yeah. That's where we live. Apparently in this version of hell, neighbors watch out for neighbors, you know, like in Mayberry.

We used to live in the city. I had no idea who my neighbors were and was very happy that way. I knew the bum on the corner of 6th and Pike on a deeper level than I knew the lady (or was it a guy?) that lived right down the hall from me.

But here in Suburbia, the neighbors are getting a little nosey. Each time I talk to them, they feel the need to comment on something that's going on at our house -- "What are you guys having done to your lawn?" Fertilization lady. That's all. The best part is when our (Latina) nanny took lil a out for a walk, the neighborhood moms apparently didn't know she speaks English, because they began talking very loud about her, asking each other who in the world could she be. And then, when my lovely nanny was getting ready to leave, one of them tried to speak to her in Spanish. When she answered "WHAT?!" they kindly told her in English that is was OK to back her car up.

Yeah. Later that day, I ran into them and was asked if that lady was family or not. She very well could be, but sorry folks, she's not. And how is that their business anyway?

I'm thinking of doing weird things on purpose, just to add some drama to their days. They apparently need it. Don't be surprised if my next post describes how I erected a shrine in my front lawn and how I changed my house number to 666. Anything to keep them interested.

Target

Eno and I were in Target Saturday (I typed yesterday, but yesterday was Sunday and Easter and apparently everything closes on Easter, even Target. Who knew?). When I walked passed the junior section, filled to the brim with bikinis, I said to Eno,

"Does that bathing suit come in the form of a burqa? I'll take it then."

Too bad the answer was no.

Mama M Does the Beavers

The Portland Beavers, that is.

I was asked to sing the National Anthem twice this week at the Portland Beavers baseball game. The Beavers are the AAA team for the San Diego Padres, so it's not major league, but it's still loads of fun for me. This video is from Tuesday's performance. There were over 2,000 kids there, so it was a decent crowd for a day game.

[Note: Those of you lovely readers (all 3 of you) who actually know me will know that I don't necessarily go around advertising that I sing. In fact, for the past three years or so, Carlos has been hiding a video of me singing at a WWU football game. (Thank you Carlos!) But, hell, I have my own blog now, so I figured I can post whatever I want. Ha!]

The video isn't that great and since it's such a large file, I'm not sure how this will work. As Randy Jackson would say, it was a bit "pitchy" in parts, but overall it was OK.



BTW, it's my life dream to sing at a Seattle Mariner's game -- anyone know someone who works for that organization? :)

Dog and lil a

lil a has started grabbing at things lately, and as you can tell from this pic, it doesn't matter if that thing is a baby toy or Lucy.

Thanks to auntie b for taking such a great pic.

Nanny time - 2 weeks in

So this week was the 2nd week that the nanny came to our little abode. Last week, Nanny Louise asked how it was going, and if I would've answered completely differently had I responded before this week's session.

To be honest, the first day she came was sort of weird. She was fantastic, but things were a little crazy here. Eno's brother was visiting and it seemed like people kept coming to door. The thing was, I wasn't particularly busy with work tasks, so it was strange that I wasn't holding lil a all day. We also had a little adjustment in the agreed-upon rate that I was paying, which was unexpected.

I was interested to see how the 2nd session went. It was wonderful. I worked upstairs in my office, which I haven't done for like 6 months at least. Nanny and lil a played all day -- and even got some light housecleaning done. I couldn't believe it when I heard her vacuuming. Turns out she was holding lil a AND vacuuming. Talk about multitasking.

Rollover - Part 3

Eno thinks this counts -- but we all know it doesn't quite make the cut. He gets pretty close though!



[[If the video doesn't work, download it directly:
http://megan.cosmicpixel.com/rollover3.WMV]

Rollover - Part 2

In this one, he gets serious.



[[If the video doesn't work, download it directly:
http://megan.cosmicpixel.com/rollover2.WMV]

He almost rolls over - Part 1

In this first video, it's like lil a is teasing me. "Look ma, I might just roll over. Ooh! Tricked you didn't I?"


[If the video doesn't work, download it directly:
http://megan.cosmicpixel.com/rollover1.WMV]

Pumping in the girl's room

Last Wednesday was the first time since he was born that I was away from lil a all day. Eno stayed home and, along with his little brother, took care of the babe. Since I was gone all day, I had to pump. [Warning if talk of breast pumps, milk and fashionable shoes makes you squeamish, stop reading now.]

I already had all the gear I need -- I bought the Medela Pump in Style a long time ago. I've used it at home to build up my stash and in the car while traveling to Idaho, but never in a public place and especially never while I was with work people, most of whom are 60-year-old men.

The meetings I went to took place at the brand-new Salem Conference Center. I emailed them earlier this week to see if they had any facilities for nursing moms. Unfortunately, the most they could offer me was a chair in the women's bathroom or the use of one of their administrative conference rooms. I could only imagine the strange look I would get if someone walked in on me in their conference room, so I decided to just plan on using the women's restroom (sans extra chair).

At around 10 am, I decided it was probably time to do the deed, so I marched off the bathroom with my "laptop" (People actually thought this was a laptop..thank god I work in IT).

Here's where the fancy shoes come in. I wore very distinctive, stylish shoes (if I do say so myself), and people kept commenting how cute they are. Normally that would be great, but when you have to stand in a bathroom stall for 15 minutes with a very strange whirring sound emitting from said stall, let me tell you, you'd much rather be wearing nondescript, unidentifiable shoes. Not to mention since you can't sit down, heels would probably not be your first choice.

The best part was that once I got setup and the pump started going, anytime I moved from side to side, the toilet would flush. As if it's not enough to have the pump sound going...intermittent flushing just topped it all off.

All in all, everything went fine. I had to pump 3 times throughout the day and I pumped basically the same amount as lil a ate while I was gone, so my stash wasn't depleted. While a bathroom isn't the best place for food prep, it worked well enough and I made it through the day.