You never know it's the last time until it passes

I feel like crying. Today while I was changing the Little Guy's diaper I realized it had been awhile since he'd done his Hippy Hippy Shake Shake. He was still doing it two weeks ago when I arrived at my parents' place - I think I've been so absorbed in watching him start to crawl and babble that I didn't notice the disappearance of the Hippy Hippy Shake Shake. Of course, with kids you never know when will be the last time until it's gone forever.

I loved his little move. He no longer needs it to motor along is back to get places - he's so quick at flipping over and crawling commando-style nowadays. My little boy is growing up so fast!

On the Twilight bandwagon

So while reviewing my backlog of blog drafts, I came across this one, on the Twilight series. Grrreat. Back when I jotted some ideas down, the first movie had just come out. And already the third installment opens up this Wednesday. I am mulling watching the movie on Friday: trying to decide if eye candy is worth the "I love you Edward! ...but I love you Jacob!" nausea that is Bella.

I think the original book had such an interesting premise, but Bella is so, so disappointing a character. I suppose the angst and confusion is relatable to teenagers, but Bella/Edward/Jacob are poor models of healthy relationships, and unhealthy relationships are what leads to baby mama drama, along with other personal and social ills.

So, some other resources to set people on a good course:
from the New York Times, A Rise in Efforts to Spot Abuse in Youth Dating
and
http://heathersvoice.net - a site about dating violence and domestic abuse

Validation at last

Yesterday the Little Guy and I went to Costco: I put him in his Phil & Ted's MeToo! Travel Highchair and he sat quietly chomping on his food while I had my lunch. He and his high chair attracted a lot of admirers; I guess Phil & Ted's doesn't have a distributor in Taiwan. People thought the chair was neat and handy, and they thought the Little Guy was cute and well-behaved. One woman came up to me and we had a nice chat. "People told me not to hold my baby too much, but you should hold your baby close now, because before you know it, they'll be 33." (Guess how old her son is now?).

I told her I shared the same philosophy, and she replied that she could tell we were strongly attached, since he was sitting so peacefully in his chair while I ate. "I can see he feels secure," she said. It's so nice to receive support of my parenting style.

Mommy guilt

I felt badly a few nights ago - my Munchkin has been going through either a growth spurt or teething and has been waking up a lot at night. One night at about 4am, he would nurse for a bit, break off, whine because he was not latched on, and then I would have to get him latched on again. After close to an hour of this, I lost my temper. I think I let out a very loud groan; I don't remember exactly. What I do remember is that at that moment, my little baby looked at me with wide eyes and then scooched away from me to snuggle up against my forearm (he sleeps next to me and likes to be nestled into my armpit). At that moment, he recognized my grouchiness and frustration and decided that my arm was still a safe haven. He actually took my arm and hugged it. I felt really bad. Sweetie, Mommy loves you even though the hourly feedings are killer.

The night after that was much better - I got to sleep for four hours straight! And even though I was awoken six times last night, he was very eficient at nursing. I hope I don't jinx myself - I hope tonight goes smoothly as well! I need the rest - the flip side of getting a break from what seems to be constant nursing is that I have a clogged duct again. If it's not one thing, it's another!

Milk drunk

Now this is what food coma should be like!

A year ago...

...my little bun was a blastoplast in the oven. Ok, he was probably already an embryo but blastoplast is such a cool word! And now he's a little pre-sitter!

Happy New Year!

My parents' visit ends in a few days, and in the 3+ weeks that they've been here little munchkin has grown so much. Today he weighed an unofficial 6.5 kilos on the bathroom scale.

Now, he can:

• "stand" while supported
• grab things and hold them with his hand
• see across the room, and thus follow people with his eyes
• see (and stare!) at the TV screen

Just this past weekend, it's as if the world just exploded into color for him. He's so curious, he has a hard time nursing. The other morning he woke up hungry for breakfast. But after a few vigorous sucks, he'd break off to look left, right, left, in wide-eyed curiosity before returning to suck vigorously, only to break off a few 6seconds later with another new discovery, and repeat over and over. Funny, although tiring for the sole "chef" and "waitress" at Mom's Diner. I've gotten a lot of use out of my nursing cape since then (thanks Auntie Jenn, for making it) as it makes a dark and less stimulating environment so that he can focus on nursing, or if he's in the carrier, fall asleep.

Speaking of which, I'm in the market for a new carrier. Although I love the versatility of the ring sling, I really need something that distributes weight across both shoulders and my hips and can be used until toddlerhood. Being able to nurse in it, easy in-and-out, a variety of baby-wearing positions, and dad-friendly wearability are all pluses. Oh, and Taiwan is incredibly hot and humid in the summer. Any suggestions?