Daily Peep: Sleeping With Fishies

This is one of the two pairs of jammies that the Easter Bunny brought.

Daily Peep: Jumper Roo

Here's Peeperoo in a little jumper ensemble that my friend G (whom I've known since kindergarten!), her partner L, and their son, NotSoBabyM, gave her at our Texas shower.

I've been eyeing it for weeks, looking forward naked-leg weather!

Another Playdate!or Choosey Cloth Diaper Snob Becomes Huggies-Loving Beggar

Peeper and I had another playdate yesterday, during which I learned an important lesson:

This:

"We're just taking a little walk, and I don't want to carry a bag. I'll leave the diapers in the car and change her when we get back."

Is a Very. Bad. Plan.

Actually, that was only one of the lessons that I learned yesterday, but let me begin at the beginning.

One of my Democratic Party buddies (C) and his wife (A) - both lovely people - had a baby (Hmm, also W. Ok, we'll call him BoyW and our playmate from last week will be GirlW.) in early February, and since then, we've been trying to find a time to get together.

I've been driving around with a gift bag full of Target stuff for the little guy for a couple of months, and last week I realized that he' s probably outgrown those newborn clothes by now, so I went and bought a couple of six-month-sized things, and we're saving the tiny stuff for a player to be named later.

(There are actually a few potential recipients in the works. None of whom I'm allowed to blog about yet.)

So, A and I finally made a plan to meet up on the campus of the women's college down the road, to take a walk with the babies. It was scheduled to be a beautiful day, and the campus runs along a creek, and features both an organic farm and an equestrian center. So, it's not your typical "college campus" for scenery purposes.

The plan was for her to call as she was wrapping up lunch with friends, and I'd start my last-minute preparations and head over.

Of course, when she called, Peeper was asleep and nursing, wearing just a diaper - and all her clean diapers were in the dryer. With Shrike's help, I changed her diaper, dressed her, stuffed some freshly-dried diapers and repackaged the gift.

(Threw the newborn stuff out of the now-torn gift bag, tossed in the big-boy jammies. Shrike asked if I'd remembered to remove the price tags. I ripped them off, while saying, "Oh, she shops at Target - she knows what this stuff costs!")

Then, the diaper bag dilemma.

I certainly didn't want to carry the "real" bag on our walk, because it's just ridiculously huge.

Lately, I've been taking a smaller bag to carry into stores and such, with just the essentials, while leaving the big bag in the car.

(The smaller bag is actually the freebie from the hospital, but Shrike cut the "Similac" tag off of it for me, because it pisses me off that hospitals allow formula companies to market that way. So, I will use their free bag, but I will not display their logo.)

But - I didn't really want to carry that while walking either, so I debated digging out the backpack.

Shrike said, "Oh, you're just walking around. Leave the diaper bag in the car. You'll be fine."

Cue ominous music.

(Also: You like how I make this all her fault? Because it couldn't possibly be my fault.)

We did have a lovely walk, and a lovely visit, complete with the obligatory comparisons of our labor experiences. (We used the same OB practice, and MidwifeD, who delivered Peeper, was with her throughout labor, and Dr B did the actual delivery, so there was much to talk about.)

There was also baby comparison, of course, and this time Peeper got to be the big kid. Well, at least the old kid, and the mature kid, since BoyW, at about 10 weeks old, actually weighs a few ounces more than she does!

At one point, BoyW was waking up from his nap and fussing, and Peeper was starting to squirm in the wrap and fuss, so we found a nice picnic table by the creek, so they could enjoy their respective lunches.

Peeper was not really into nursing - on / off / on /off - and still fussing aound, so I did something that I never do.

I thought she might be wet, so I stuck a finger between the snaps of her outfit, and into the edge of her diaper, to check.

And that is when I learned lesson number two.

So to speak.

A asked, "Would you like a baby wipe?"

I said, "Well, my diapers are in the car, so . . . oh, you mean for me? Yes, please."

I wiped off my hand, and Peeper kept fussing, so then Amy offered me more wipes - and a diaper.

And I will be forever grateful.

Lessons learned.

Hey - I Cooked Something!

This morning, Peeper and Mommy enjoyed the beautiful day in the backyard, while I boiled a pot of spaghetti and chopped up some onions, bell peppers and link sausage, then threw in some barbeque sauce.

My original plan was to use the veggies and sausage to beef up some jarred marinara sauce, but when I got the jar out of the cabinet, it turned out to be salsa!

I would include a recipe, but that first paragraph was pretty much it.

Daily Peep: Supervisor

Again, this is Peeper hanging out while I go potty, making sure I do it right.

Daily Peep: Nature Lesson

Yesterday, after our family walk, showing Peeper the forsythia blooming in the backyard.

Daily Peep: Peep's Pets

See, Willa, we do still take picture of the animals.

Oh, wait. Let me try again.

Better?

I Got a Prize!

My real-life friend, Willa, has given me the "Lemonade Award" which you may have been seeing around the blogosphere lately.

Here's what she has to say about the award itself:

Here are the rules as established (or discovered) at this blog http://wiseherb.blogspot.com/.

If you're interested in nominating other bloggers for the award, here are some guidelines:
Put the logo on your blog or post.
Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude!
Be sure to link to your nominees within your post and let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

And here's what she has to say about me and my blog:

At Shrike and Whozat, you will find pictures of a sweetheart, 4 month old baby who just had heart surgery. Besides knowing baby and both moms in real life, I am blown
away by the openness with which readers are invited into the family. Plus, they
have nice dogs. (However, once you have the baby, you never again take a picture
of the dogs, so you'll have to look at my blog If a Dog's Dreams came true, bones would rain from the sky to see them!)

Aw, shucks, Willa. And thanks!

I like how she refers to the "openness with which . . . ." That's a much nicer way to phrase it than, "And you will not bee-leeeve the shit this woman talks about!"

(Also, she is so right about recent lack of dog photos!)

And now, onto my nominees.

Hmm, it seems that most of them are either "Real Bloggers" who have received much bigger kudos than this, or they have brand new babies.

Or both.

So, I certainly understand if they don't have time to deal with something so silly as an "attagirl" from little ol' me.

Or, if they just Dont. Have. Time.

That said, here they are, in no particular order:

DaMomma - Motherhood Is Not For Wimps
Liz "DaMomma" writes about daily life with her two three amazing daughters. Almost every one of her posts makes me either cry or laugh out loud. Or, more often, both. Her outlook on, and insights about, parenting epitomize the "great attitude" that this award is supposed to be all about.

Amalah
One of "the" mommy bloggers, Amy is another of my favorites. Her younger son, Ezra, is just a couple of weeks (but "really" six) older than Peeper, so reading her blog is often like a sneak preview of what we'll be seeing in a few weeks. (If that math sounds familiar, yes, Ezra and Baby W were due like the same day.) Besides the new baby, Amy's currently dealing with an ailing parent, and the search for a diagnosis / label / answer for her older son, Noah's, differences / quirkinesses / Noahness. And she does it all hilariously.

Calliope - Creating Motherhood
Cali has been through some pretty tough times on the road to motherhood, but with some amazing support from the "Interweb Aunties," she has arrived and I couldn't be happier for her and the Snork, as well as her mother and grandmother.

Vee and Jay
Our favorite bloggers from across the pond, Vee and Jay went through their share of struggles before conceiving little BonusBall, who is now a month old.

One of His Moms
Another blogger who was trying to conceive at the same time we were, she's been on both sides of the lesbian mom coin, as both non-bio mom to Cakie, and now as bio-mom to not-so-little Trucker.

Roro - Creampuff Revolution
And, in case you were wondering if I ever read anything non-parenting related, I can't ignore one of the funniest people I know. Roro is the wife of Katr, whom I've known since we were about thirteen, and she is this funny in real life, as well.

Yes, I know that's only six, but give me a fucking break.

I have a baby.

Blog Reader Appreciation Day 2009

Today is Blog Reader Appreciation Day, so I want to take this opportunity to thank all both of you for listening to my ramblings, looking at my kid, and offering your witty retorts of support.

Since the beginning, I have found blogging to be very therapuetic, and it probably would be whether anyone was actually reading what I wrote or not, but it sure is nice to know that it is being read and, hopfully, appreciated.

Especially over the past few weeks, during all the stress surrounding Peeper's surgery, it's been very helpful to know that so many people out there (blog readers and others, of course) were thinking about us, and sending us so much good mojo.

Of course, I very much appreciate those readers who I know are "always there" - my "followers" (Wow, that makes me sound like some sort of cult leader or something?!) and those of you who comment regularly (including, of course, my family who is watching Peeper grow up via my Daily Peeps), but it's also very exciting to hear from someone new - a new reader, or someone of the "long-time reader, first-time commenter" variety - and how totally fucking omigod! cool is it when a comment pops up from one of my favorite bloggers?!

(I'm talking to you, DaMomma. Everyone else: If you don't know DaMomma, go read her blog now. And then congratulate her on the birth of her third daughter, Eden.)

Blogging has given me an outlet for extraverting and venting and processing all manner of things over the past couple of years, and has also become my primary medium for documenting Peeper's growth and development.

(Seriously. If I'm wondering when she hit a certain milestone, or how much she weighed at a certain time, or what her medicine dosages started at - I just check the blog. It is her baby book.)

And - contrary to what Shrike might tell you - all that talking wouldn't be nearly as much fun for me if you weren't listening.

So, thank you.

Daily Peep: Splash Down!

At her appointment with the cardiologist yesterday, Peeper was cleared to go back to the baby equivalent of "tub baths," rather than just "showers."

(Which, actually, are pretty much tub baths and showers - sitting in a mother's lap in the tub.)

The conversation went something like this:

Whozat: So, is okay to submerge her again?
Dr. C: Well, no baby should be submerged!
Whozat: Not her head! Just to take a bath, instead of a shower?
Dr. C: Sure, that's okay.

I think he was kidding, but it's hard to tell with folks around here, because they don't have much of a sense of irony, sarcasm or hyperbole.

(I should really write more about that sometime. It's a very interesting - and annoying - phenomenon.)

So, that said, little Peeper got a "real" bath last with Mommy yesterday.

Evidently, at some point during the four weeks that she's spent on dry land, she reached splashing age, and we just didn't know it yet!

Shrike tried letting her sit up on the bottom of the tub, but she seemed to prefer for to "float" and have all four limbs free for splashing.

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