THE LITTLEST VAMPIRE
If I write a vanity children's book it will be called "The Littlest Vampire".
Our girl has come into her own as feeder. Although Seamus and I had opted for a parent centered feeding schedule, Yarden is clearly on an "on-demand" meal plan so I've learned to whip out a feeding at work, at the nail salon (no chemicals don't worry), and various lunch establishments.
Yarden has also started taking breaks between courses - which makes it harder to figure out when she's done eating. She'll refuse, ignore, or push away the nipple for about 5 minutes - then suddenly rediscover it and resume feeding at a feverish pace.
This is all to say that she has resolved any breastfeeding issues, now she just keeps us guessing - but last night, was something new.
Yarden comes to life during the night and last night at 11 PM our lovely baby decided she wanted to move up to the next weight class.
Defying biology and physics, she managed to suck me dry then move on to 2 bottles of pumped milk, which means that she somehow squirreled about 12 oz of milk into a 5 oz stomach. This is also 3x her normal feeding, so it took her sleep addled and incredulous mom and dad a while to understand that she was screaming, "I MUST FEED" as opposed to "I'm gassy", "I'm overtired" or "I've shit myself".
At her 2 week checkup, Yarden had not yet made it back up to her birth weight but I think she'll impress Dr. Shaheedy with her baby bulk this time.
BACK TO WORK - WHO'S GOT THE BABY?
We've begun the very emotional process of figuring out Yarden's care once Seamus and I are back at work starting June 16th.
We'd considered a nanny and interviewed a few, the best being a woman named Jessica (e-mail address FaeriePoppins) who seemed like a fantastic partner in adventure. She sings and dances with the kids, studied cognitive psych, knows CPR, teaches kids baby sign language and is also a doula (which speaks to a definite devotion to babies). She takes her slightly older kids out to explore the world - catching lizards etc... and is a Burning Man gal and probably the best female fire dancer in the US (according to her).
I know that last sentence is going to divide our blog readers so I'll put it out there. For me, finding out that someone I already like goes to Burning Man affirms that they are creative and engaged in the world and community in the way I would hope for someone that I'm going to entrust with my baby. Firedancer on the other hand...well, I don't want to offend any readers, but i think it's pretty lame. It's an incredible skill, and I respect that, but it's down on my list of entertainment almost as low as drum circles. YET - as far as a nanny goes, it means she has a lot of creative energy.
Ultimately, we decided against a nanny because it's too expensive an option for now and if we are going to spend $800 a week on the girl, I'd rather spend that on school or other enrichments - including a nanny like Jessica - when she's more engaged with the world and can better benefit.
Right now, her days are spent 70% sleeping, 20% eating and 10% awake and "playing". What she really needs is to be in in an environment where her needs are met quickly and she's soothed and cared for and continues to believe that the world is a fantastic and safe for as long as we can maintain that bubble for her.
We've narrowed it down to two great options:
An infant day care program - which seems to be very unique, at least as far as my google and craigslist searches have determined. The center is large and clean and the class is limited to infants. You 'graduate" to the next class when you start walking. Each child has her own dedicated crib and schedule and all of the toys are infant appropriate.
A home based child care program affectionately referred to as WGA Child Care because the kids are almost exclusively children of WGA employees. It's run by the mom of a WGA employee and Seamus' boss and our friends David and Susan have all trusted their children to the program.
For the first five weeks that I'm back at work - I'm only going to work 4 days a week. I've hired our friend and neighbor Melanie to come to work with me 1.5 days a week along with Yarden to smooth the transition (for me emotionally and for Yarden from almost exclusively breastfeeding to primarily bottle feeding). Melanie is studying to be a baby nurse and she's already a bit of a baby whisperer - so I feel very lucky that she's willing to do this.
(Melanie is the 2nd from the right)I did try taking Yarden to work for a few hours this week and she could sense that she wasn't the sole focus of my attention, so I think this is an ideal situation, having someone with me at the office who is entirely dedicated to her needs.
TOY PARADE
We want to give a shout out of thanks to everyone who has sent gifts for the girl.
The thank you note is in the mail - really.
Here are a few photos of Yarden enjoying some of her presents.
Yarden captivated by the baby (she like the red, white and black ball too) from Joel and Shiran.
Yarden checking out and approving of flat out bear from Holly and Tracey.
Yarden checking out and rejecting big pink whale from Linda.
Yarden "dancing" to the music box - which is a giant to her - from Sharon.
Yarden modeling her "big girl" sweater from Cindi and Tullio.
Yarden looking angelic in the Amish bonnet from Bubbie and Grandpa.
Yarden modeling her romper from Mike and Kelly while lounging on the blanket from Karen.
And not a gift but definitely awesome - Yarden signs up for health insurance from Daddy's work.
DA IS HERE!!!Grandpa Dick (Da) arrived on Wednesday night so Betsy and I headed to LAX to surprise him with the baby. Since Yarden had pooped with excitement the last time that we went to the airport, we wondered how she would respond this time.
The answer: she hid in the bathroom.
More specifically, she SCREAMED for boob so she and I took shelter in the Ladies Room so she could eat up before meeting Da. And this was no simple topping off - she kept Grandpa waiting in baggage claim for half an hour.
She calmed down briefly - long enough to make the introductions and be held by Grandpa.
Then she started screaming again.A very adorable 2 year old wandered over with a toy car that he put in Yarden's face to see if it would cheer her up. He told her all about the car, but she ignored him. I explained that she was just hungry, but he thought of another toy she might like and came back with a rubber lobster - which perked her briefly, but then she remembered she was starving and collapsed into her sorrows again until we started the car, at which point she promptly passed out.
OUR OTHER AWESOME VISITOR
Da is here for almost a week, but we were also lucky enough to have a one night visitor in Mary Beth who was in town for the Book Fair.
She showed up with books for all and about 4 grocery bags full of yummys like beet salad, spinich and feta, blue cheese stuffed olives and an assortment of fruits and cheeses. Ah - a friend who knows me only too well. Betsy made a dinner of pork tenderloin and we actually put out a tablecloth and candles and had a grown up meal of deliciousness and fun stories.
I was exhausted and I fear I was an awful host, but MB was a perfect guest.
And for those of you who live in LA, evidently the Ralph's downtown is a gourmet establishment.
Our neighborhood Ralphs has never heard of tapenade.
Next week Liam (Seamus' brother) and Nancy (my best friend) will be in town staying with us.
It's been great and it's just going to keep being awesome.
As much as I love my job...
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