Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Behind every cloud

I had planned on doing a picture post but DH is traveling so I decided to veg out last night, watch a little TV and stay up a bit late reading an awesome book. It's the latest Anne Bishop if anyone is interested.

We had a wonderful weekend with very minor temper tantrums by Cameron. Either we are getting better at managing (really distracting) her or she's just gearing up for another big one. Lots of errands were run and DH had his baseball draft. This Sunday is the start of me being a baseball widow for the next 8 months. Perhaps a month less if the Yankees don't make it to the post season. Hey, a wife can dream! DH finally broke down and bought a new flat screen TV for his office and a new couch. The TV is already in place and the couch should be delivered in the next week or so. That means I can have the main TV all to myself!

The one errand we didn't accomplish was to pick out new glasses for me. 7 years ago I got laser eye surgery. It was absolutely the best thing I ever did. I was able to pay for it with pre-tax dollars and loved being able to see in the shower or the clock when I rolled over. I had, to put it mildly, very poor eyesight. My glasses were coke bottles so I primarily wore contacts. About a year before the surgery the contacts started to really bother my eyes if I had them in for longer than a few hours. Faced between scheduling an expensive procedure and wearing my coke bottle classes, I decided to go with the surgery.

I had a feeling that my eyesight wasn't 20/20 any more. But I haven't been to the eye doctor since the last eye surgery follow up. I do have some problems driving at night. I get a halo effect from lights. But DH usually drives so it wasn't that big of a deal. I scheduled my appointment for this huge facility right down the road.

The nurse took me back through a warren of corridors (I think this place could have seen 100 patients at one time!) and began administering my eye test. Are they really nurses? Perhaps eye technicians? Anyway, she immediately began clicking her tongue when I couldn't read below the second line. I said, "These letters are really small. I bet most people can't read them." She responded, "Yes they can." Crap. I knew that this wasn't going to be a good appointment. After scaring me she dilated my eyes and then the doctor came in. He was super nice and his wife was also an eye doctor (Harvard). He also told me that his daughter was going to Harvard in the fall. For what, you may ask? Nuclear physics. Yikes. Smart girl.

The doctor told me that my eyes weren't too bad but my left one was worse than my right which was why I couldn't see well at night. "It's actually a good thing," he told me seriously, "That means in a few years when you are in your 40s and you start to become far sighted you won't need reading glasses." Gee, thanks. I happen to only be in my early thirties, dude. I had to write my birth date down a million times on the forms I filled out. Do the math!

It turns out that I will only need glasses for driving at night which is great. I don't plan on wearing them very often because I remember distinctly when I was 8 and got glasses for the first time. After about a week once I took them off everything was blurry. I don't plan on going through that again. And the silver lining is that despite failing eyesight today apparently I will not require reading glasses in ten years when I'm in my forties.

Has anyone else regressed from their eye surgery? Contemplating getting it?

Friday, March 26, 2010

That wasn't the kind of precociousness I was hoping for...

Cameron had her 12 month well appointment this morning. Her stats:
Length: 29 inches (50%)
Weight: 19 lbs 15.4 ozs (35%)
Head: 45 cms (65%)

As her doctor predicted at the 9 month appointment, Cameron has fallen into the toddler trap of increasing activity and a minor eating slump. She has definitely lost her big belly but only grew 1/2 an inch in the past 3 months.

Last evening I was treated to the first of what are sure to be many temper tantrums. Cameron was arching her back and screaming while I held her. Upon DH's advice I put her on the ground where she proceeded to kick and scream and roll her way around the room. For 15 minutes. Yes, at the ripe age of one year, one day, my child learned how to throw a stellar temper tantrum. According to our doctor Cameron is starting early. Also early on the development scale? Throwing food on the ground with vigor and verve.

It would have been nice to have Cameron talking or walking to demonstrate her precociousness. Instead she has decided to highlight her stubborn streak. I blame DH.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

It's only a phase but how long of a phase?

Despite only turning 1 yesterday, Cameron has been in full on toddler mode for the past 2 weeks. She has been constantly doing the following things:
  • Crying. And not just whining crying. No, instead she brings out the streaming tears and the quivering lip. She cries when she wakes up from a nap. She cries when she goes down for a nap. She cries when she is put in her car seat or taken out of it. And of course she bawls when I put her down or walk away for a minute. She even cries when DH picks her up instead of me.
  • Refusing to eat. I try to follow the advice and give Cameron 4 foods, two of which she will usually eat and two new/nutritious options. I usually give her the carb/veggie options first because if I put the fruit down then she would eat nothing but the fruit. But of course Cameron is smart and whines and cries and after about 10 minutes of waiting for her to eat the non-fruit option I put the fruit down on her tray. She scarves it down and whines for more. So obviously the girl is hungry!
  • Throwing food. Related to refusing to eat. If Cameron doesn't like the food it becomes a projectile launched at the ground. And the girl has an arm. Dropped food is no longer relegated to the immediate vicinity. Charlie likes that because he is a wimp and refuses to come over the wood laminate floor and eat the dropped food right around the high chair. We say "no" in firm voices but Cameron will just laugh and do it again.

The food issues in particular are concerning for me because we're trying to eliminate bottles. We've successfully brought her down to 3 bottles a day and I have a feeling that I can remove the breakfast bottle next week. That still leaves the 3 PM and the 6:30 PM ones. Cameron eats so little for dinner that I wonder if we'll be able to ever eliminate the 6:30 bottle!

I'm looking for validation, advice and commiseration....please tell me I will get back my happy, smiling, laughing baby sometime soon!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Cameron: twelve months old

Dear Cameron,

Today you are one year old. Exactly 365 days ago your daddy and I were thrilled to meet you. And in those past twelve months you have grown and learned and filled our hearts more than we ever thought possible.

Lately we are struggling with eliminating bottles, keeping you from throwing food all over the floor and giving you kisses and cuddles when you inevitably fall and bang your head. It's a good thing you got your daddy's thick head!

We thought you might be walking by your birthday but you aren't quite ready to let go of our hands. Or the couch. Or the table. Or the wall. But we know you'll get there soon which is why mommy spent far too much money on your first pair of real shoes this past weekend.

You still love your bath time just as much as you did during your first month of life. Now you can stand up and squirm around. But you love the water and would stay there until your fingers and toes wrinkled.
In month two you spent a lot of time staring at the light. Now you are far too busy to zone out and would much rather prefer climbing all over mommy and daddy.
You discovered your tongue in month 3, forgot about it for a while and are now really into it again. You love to poke it out and wiggle it at Daddy when he is being silly.
Month 4 saw lots of smiles and laughter. Your eyes started to lighten and you became much more of a little person. Mommy returned to work and you started daycare. Aside from Mommy's concerns about your napping (still have that today) you have flourished there.
Month 5 saw the introduction of solid foods. Yum, rice cereal! Now you are mostly eating finger foods and we've started eliminating bottles. You still make this face when I try to get you to eat something other than fruit or Cheerios or gold fish crackers.

In your 6th month we visited your whole family in Massachusetts and Maine. Mommy and Daddy had their first weekend away from you but you and Grammy had a great time.

You really started moving around in your seventh month. And Mommy knew that we would be chasing you for the rest of our lives.

In month 8 we took you to Hilton Head where you loved nothing more than hanging out in the kiddie pool and bit hot tub. Mommy signed you up for swim lessons as soon as we got home! In November you started to realize that rolling was slow and commando crawling was the way to go. It was only this past month that you figured out how much faster crawling on your hands and knees is. Sometimes you go back to commando crawling but overall you'd prefer to walk anyway. We had a small quiet Christmas this past year. While Grammy and Bumpa grumbled you have plenty of time to experience the craziness that is usually our family Christmas. We decided to only get you 2 presents but you got a lot more from friends and family.
In your eleventh month your sauciness really got going. Your Daddy and I experienced the start of a very wide and deep stubborn streak. But how can we resist a face this cute? If this picture is any indication you are thrilled that it's finally Spring and we can get out of the house. It's probably the reason you are working so hard to walk on your own. Don't worry, my little munchkin, you will get there!It has been a wonderful year and we can't wait to see what you do next!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The sign of a disorganized mind

I have been doing a lot of thinking about work lately. I've mentally composed and discarded several blog posts about it. Mostly because I don't want to cross any potentially hazardous lines in talking about BigFinance but also because my mind is a whirl and it's hard to concentrate. I pinpoint my issues to one thing: my email inbox has become unwieldy. And that means my job has become unwieldy. I like to file emails and keep everything nice and tidy and up to date. If I have more than 30 active emails in my inbox I know that the work is piling up. And I've hit well over a hundred.

I'm sure many of you are snickering at my email numbers (yes, Mommy, Esq., I'm looking at you!) but to more than triple the number of "active" things I'm following up on means that my mind, like my days, are just spiraling out of control. I think things would be better if I was able to execute on my projects. But we've been in the planning stages for 9 months and every time it looks like there is a break through another problem pops up. I do not exaggerate when I write that not a single piece of the work I'm doing has been easy. Usually there are one or two quick wins that can help boost me through bad times but not for the past 9 months. And that is a long time to go in being frustrated.

I'm also struggling with figuring out my career path within BigFinance. I may have mentioned previously that I am in a rotational program. It is ending in July so I need to figure out if I should stay in my current department or target a new role. I have an offer on the table but it doesn't appear to be the best fit. A lot of uncertainty with the role and very little upside. Plus it's the first job I've interviewed for and I plan on being very picky in finding my next role. How about the rest of you? How have you plotted out your careers? Have you just fallen into roles or was there deliberate thought and action?

Monday, March 22, 2010

Family visits

As you may have noticed I've been a bit remiss in posting lately. That's because of the craziness of my work schedule and visits from family. My sister-in-law came to visit us for the first time since we've moved to Charlotte. It was wonderful to see her especially because she is very well versed in gardening and landscape planning. While I was toiling away at work she and DH did a ton of planting and pruning and general clean up. The yard looks great! Still a long way to go especially with planting shade perennials but we'll get there! The day after my SIL left, my mom (Grammy) showed up. A fun time and lots of shopping was had by all.

Here are some photos to tide you over....I can't believe how much Cameron is growing up!

Cameron clutches the new puppy that Mimi gave her for her birthday.

Cameron hangs out in the chair that Grammy gave her and the hat that Mimi knitted her. Good thing it's big enough to fit next winter!
Grammy insisted that the way for Cameron to learn how to sip through a straw was to get a milkshake from McDonald's. As you can see, it totally worked!
Grammy got some great shots of Cameron during swim lessons.
Cameron loves her swing. It doesn't swing quite straight but that is what happens when you use a tree. She still loves it.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Separation anxiety or a mommy phase?

When I dropped off Cameron at school this morning she started whining and crying and didn't want me to plop her on the floor per usual. Normally I put her down and she immediately starts playing and is happy as a clam. She doesn't wave good-bye to me but I also don't push the leaving process. A quick kiss, drop off of bag and a wave good-bye. Cameron hardly ever notices I'm gone. Apparently this is not going to be the case going forward.

I shouldn't be surprised at the start of this mommy phase and/or separation anxiety. It's about the right time frame (12-15 months) and for the past week she has been very, very clingy. And only with me. If DH tries to wake her up or spend some alone time with her she does nothing but cry. I am attempting to be good and stay away. But it's hard! Equally hard is that Cameron is attached to me from the moment she wakes up until she goes to sleep. I don't think that I do anything differently than DH in changing her diaper or getting her ready for school or bed. But she is fairly mellow (aside from some thrashing) for me and constantly whining and squirming with him.

DH picked her up from school yesterday and Cameron cried her head off all the way home. True, she is tired and not napping well. But poor DH is getting tired of being the "bad guy" in Cameron's eyes. It's frustrating for him, me and probably Cameron. Perhaps I should go on a business trip and leave the two of them to work it out? Not that I have any business traveling coming up...

Suggestions from other parents who have had to deal with this?

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

And then there were two

DH and I took yesterday off from work because his sister is in town to help us with some landscaping work/garden clean up. I managed to negotiate him dropping Cameron off in the morning so I could sleep in. We have these new curtains in our room and roller shades (instead of those crappy white blinds) and the room is pitch black even in the sunniest of mornings. Boy, is it hard to get up when the entire room is shrouded in darkness!

Because we hung out at a neighbor's house the evening before normal chores, like putting together and labeling Cameron's daycare bottles, didn't get done. DH packed Cameron off and whisked her to daycare, only to find that no bottles were in her bag. I had actually thought about that but didn't mention it to DH when he got up. Rolling over and snuggling into my pillow was a much better idea. Plus, he's a pro so he wouldn't forget, right? Obviously wrong....

I have been toying with the idea of phasing out bottles for Cameron. My plan was to eliminate the 11 AM this week and the 3 PM one next week. Guess what? We went cold turkey instead. I took it as a sign from above and didn't bother to zip over with the bottles. Instead her teachers would feed her from a sippy cup and my hope is that eventually we can just phase the 50/50 formula/milk split to 100% milk and then just have sippy cups for snacks and meals.

Cameron will be 12 months next week (I know!) so the timing seemed good. I have a feeling I'll leave the AM/PM bottles for a while longer until she is completely comfortable with all types of finger foods. How about the rest of you? How have you or do you plan to phase out bottles?

Sunday, March 14, 2010

A walk in the park

The weather has been beautiful this weekend so we took advantage of it with a trip to the park. Cameron loved it as you can see below.




Friday, March 12, 2010

AI results

Thanks to everyone who offered up advice on our current Cameron challenges. Her diaper rash was way better this morning but I will keep an eye on it to see if yeast infection might be at play.

I skimmed through the results show last night and aside from one prediction, totally didn't see the cuts coming. Even though Katelyn Epperly did only an OK job with her performance she is really cute and did a great job the week before. DH and I commented to each other, "She's totally safe." And we were totally wrong. And frankly, putting her up against Paige was just insulting. I cannot believe that Paige made it through for another week. Perhaps America was lamenting the lack of diversity that would come from her elimination? Did the tween vote save her? Either way, she and Katie have to take Simon's advice and find their "voice" in terms of who they want to be as an artist. Otherwise they won't last long.

I wasn't quite as surprised at Lilly being eliminated although she did have the money spot and it's unusual to see a performer cut who has that spot. I really liked her quirky voice but the girl needed a serious makeover and to tone down the facial expressions.

Todrick cemented his status as a dancer trying to sing and was rightly eliminated. He was the only one I predicted correctly. I was not happy to see Alex Lambert go. I actually think it was Andrew Garcia's time and think he also needs to get his shit together. Another weak link for me is Aaron Kelly.

What did you think about the eliminations? Who do you think will take the crown?

Top 12:
Aaron Kelly
Tim Urban
Katie Stevens
Paige Mills
Crystal Bowersox
Siobhan Magnus
Didi Benami
Lee Dewyze
Michael Lynche
Casey James
Andrew Garcia
Lacey Brown

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Current Cameron challenges

We really are in a wonderful stage so don't let the title of this post fool you! But like all parents, nothing is ever perfect. First of all, diarrhea was the name of the game with the antibiotic she has been on for the double ear infection. What did that result in? A truly terrible case of diaper rash. Cameron has had very slight cases over the last 10 months but this....this defies words. It it everywhere. And it's not just red, it is truly a rash with the bumps and the swelling. Poor thing. She has been tolerating it well but aside from putting diaper rash cream on every day, is there something else you would recommend?

Another challenge with Cameron is her lack of napping at daycare. Yes, I know I sound like a broken record but it is starting to really impact our evening time. Cameron has usually been napping just once a day and an hour isn't enough. On the weekends she sleeps 2 hours in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. 1/5 of her normal time is miserable for her, me and DH. DH whisks her home and put her right to bed, usually around 4:30 PM. Cameron sleeps for an hour and I go wake her up. Wake a sleeping baby? Damn right. I refuse to impact her 7 PM bedtime. I need downtime too! Cameron is clingy and whiny and doesn't want to eat anything other than her bottle, fruit and goldfish. If I leave the room for a minute she starts full on bawling. It's distressing. Any advice?

Cameron is also going through a big mommy phase. I am trying to mitigate it as much as possible by passing her off to DH but it's harder in the evenings because of how tired and cranky she is. Has anyone successfully managed the mommy phases? I at least don't want her to cry when passing her off!

Lastly we are starting to see the refusal and throwing of food off the highchair tray. I put some pasta down in front of Cameron the other day and she picked up the entire clump and threw it right down. I'll also see her sneak her hand down next to her side to drop other pieces of food onto the chair itself. Smart, crafty little girl. I read Child of Mine and want to adhere to its recommendations that I as the parent provide the food and it is up to Cameron to eat. But I totally cave because I hate to see her eat nothing for dinner which is oftentimes what would happen if I didn't put out more Cameron friendly food. How have other parents handled this? Keep in mind she's only 11 months....is it really time to start those food battles?

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

My adventures at the Minute Clinic

After I wrapped up a long day of calls and wrangled a very tired and cranky daughter my left ear started really hurting. As in, holy crap, I think I have an ear infection. I've been sick off and on for several weeks. It's starting to effect my attitude towards work, my general energy levels and the snoring is driving DH nuts.

After putting Cameron down for bed I decided to look up the Minute Clinic. My sister, A., recommended it as an alternative to making a usually inconvenient appointment with my primary care physician. I found one a few miles from my house and resolved to head out to be there for its 8:30 AM open.

I woke up at 12 AM coughing my fool head off and quickly downed some NyQuil in the hopes that I could return to sleep fairly quickly. For a change, and probably because I am so run down, it worked and I woke up fairly refreshed but still sick.

In accordance with my plan I made it to the Minute Clinic at 8:20 AM. And there was already one person in line ahead of me. I had a 9 AM call that I had to be on but I was hopeful that the 15 minute appointment guidelines would apply. And it totally did!

Super easy check in process although I was annoyed to see that Cameron has to be 18 months old to receive care. When I was called back into the room and started listing my symptoms everything was noted down electronically. A quick swipe of my insurance and FSA and I had two recommendations for over the counter drugs and a prescription sent over to my regular pharmacy. The nurse practitioner was very friendly and asked relevant questions. Total time? 15 minutes in and out. I'm sure that wait times vary depending on the time or day but when I left there were 3 people on the list behind me.

I loved that I could go on my time and didn't have to deal with the hassles of paperwork. Diagnosis? Sinus infection. Hopefully I'll be well on my way to recovery by this weekend. Have you ever been to a Minute Clinic? How does it compare to an Urgent Care?

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Nobody does it better

DH is traveling this week. It's the first time in many, many months where he has hopped on a plane and I am left to juggle work and Cameron solo. Usually it is the opposite as I have been the one with more business travel. When DH is home alone he tells me how easy it is to manage the juggle. I am not quite so sanguine.

This morning was a bit of a blur and I felt rushed every step of the way. Granted, I probably slept a bit longer than I should have but hey, I'm sick so I cut myself some slack. A quick shower, throw on some clothes and off to wake up Cameron to start her morning routine. It was already 7 AM so I was running about 15 minutes behind schedule. 15 minutes became 20 when I realized the outfit I had picked out was too small and also had to administer a dose of antibiotics.

I whisked Cameron off to the car and strapped her in, Cameron protesting the entire time. For some reason Cameron has not wanted to go in her car seat lately. Called the dog back inside, dumped some food in his bowl and started our commute to daycare. Even though I am working from home and didn't have to doll myself up per usual I felt rushed through the whole morning process.

Coming home since I was later than normal I ran into a lot more traffic. Via cell phone I commiserated with Mommy, Esq. on her crappy work schedule, parked, got myself some caffeine and settled into email. And it was only 8 AM. Thank goodness DH is home tomorrow afternoon! I am extremely impressed with his ability to juggle the morning routine while I'm away.

Monday, March 8, 2010

A spring weekend

We had a wonderful weekend aside from me catching whatever felled Cameron last week. Aches, the sniffles and a slight soar throat are not a good accompaniment to a beautiful Spring weekend. Cameron decided to nap really, really well so I got to nap in the afternoons while DH toiled away doing yard clean up and a myriad of other tasks.

Cameron discovers the Tupperware cabinet. Mommy and Daddy discover that Cameron now screeches if she doesn't get her way. We quickly learned when we packed up the cabinet and tried to make Cameron move on to other games. Epic fail.


One of the tasks this weekend was to get rid of these ants that have invaded our pantry. They have come and gone for the last year and we've tried spraying and ant traps with little success. DH picked up some liquid bait that attracted the ants like, well, like ants to food. After a day of them congregating in our pantry they disappeared. Upon inspection DH decided to caulk every interior edge of the pantry to eliminate future migrations. Smart man!


Cameron dries off after a swim lesson. She is up to 4 seconds under the water!
Cameron plays before we head into swim lessons.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

American Idol: Top 10 guys perform

This is going to be a super fast recap. I didn't even take notes because I've been feeling burnt out on AI. Like somehow the 9 months between last season and this season didn't recharge my batteries. I blame the 4 judge format. I hate hearing each of them provide feedback on every contestant. It's beyond annoying and stretches a show that should be one hour into two.

So the guys are up because Chrystal Bowersox is in the hospital. Real illness or teeth whitening? The were very few good performances with a couple of notable exceptions.
  • Big Mike: Really, really good and found his vibe with a James Brown song. Easily safe.
  • John Park: YAWN. Totally in danger of going home with another boring performance.
  • Casey: Picks a good Gavin DeGraw song and goes all karaoke. A major step back from last week but he's still totally safe.
  • Alex Lambert: Totally rocked the house and made me really route for him. Based on this performance he should go really far.
  • Todrick: I have never liked Todrick. It's like I have this inability to route for him in any way because he is so annoying. The way he dresses, his back flips, his mediocre voice, everything. He decides to tackle Tina Turner and it goes about as well as you would expect. I finally pinpoint his problem. Todrick is trying to script a win. He is trying to add in whatever components he thinks the judges and audiences want to hear and totally missing the boat. I am hopeful that he will be gone after this week but pity might keep him around.
  • Jermaine is a white woman trapped in a black man's body. Close your eyes and listen. It's scary. He does terrible and is most likely one of the two going home.
  • Andrew Garcia tries to change things up but the judges are still stuck on his Paula Abdul audition from 3 freaking weeks ago. Hopefully he will hold off on performing it until the Top 12. Despite a not-so-good performance he'll be fine.
  • Aaron Kelly is so young. And lacks the David Archuleta charm. He picks "My Girl" and it's as awkward and terrible as you would think. The teeny bopper vote will put him through though.
  • Tim Urban seems like he is still growing into his limbs. He goes with "Come on Get Higher" and does much, much better than last week but it's still not very good. But given his improvement I think he'll be safe for another week.
  • In the money spot is Lee who totally rocks it out vocally with a Hinder song. He does look a little uncomfortable without his guitar but he does a really great job and totally jumps up in my estimation.

So who is out? John Park is toast. Jermaine or Todrick is my other pick.

SJ out.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

The post where I wonder how WAHM can also be SAHM

In case some of my readers aren't up on the lingo WAHM stands for Work at Home Mom (not to be confuse with WOHM "Work out of Home Mom") and SAHM means Stay At Home Mom. I prefer to be known as awesome.

Yesterday Cameron was home from daycare with a double ear infection. Yup, DH and I thought it might be pink eye but lo and behold it was really the ear infection. My sister was incredulous that we had no idea. "You mean she didn't wake up during the night multiple times?" Nope. That's not how Cameron rolls. But we did know something was wrong so off to the doctor's DH went with Cameron. Diagnosis in hand we decided to keep her home for the day so she would nap better and recover more quickly.

Unfortunately neither of us could take the day off of work. DH's calendar was a bit more flexible than mine but I had about 5 hours of conference calls where I was an integral component. So not only did I have to have my headset on for most of the day, multitasking was absolutely out. It worked out OK but I was pretty stressed for most of the day even with DH shouldering the heavier load with childcare. And Cameron napped for about 5.5 hours total. All in all it should have been a piece of cake but it was still stressful. I could never really concentrate on Cameron when it was my time to care for her or work when I was supposed to be herding cats on my conference calls.

As I lay on the couch in exhaustion catching up on the 8 (!) episodes of Fringe we have saved I wondered, how do the women who work full time jobs also juggle being the primary care giver during the day for their kids? I don't mean freelance work which can technically be managed in "off" hours (although talk about tiring!) but a 9-5 job. I met one woman at BigFinance who told me proudly that she was going to be working at home while watching her 6 month and 5 year old sons. Really? I'm sure that worked out fabulously.

I have an exceptionally happy, long napping baby and there is no way in hell I could do it for more than a day. And that was with DH. I worry that technology has allowed us to juggle too many things. I appreciate the flexibility from BigFinance and the technological tools that allow me to work from home at least once a week. But when I work from home, I work from home. Sure, I might throw in some laundry or run an errand or blog but my time and attention is focused on work.

What do the rest of you think? Totally possible to juggle a full time day job and caring for kids? I assume that it would get easier as the kids get older but I would think that 0-6 is the hardest.

PS - Cameron is doing totally great today and didn't even glance at me as I waved goodbye after dropping her off at daycare. And I am happily ensconced at my desk slogging through email.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

By request

Yes, Mimi...I'm looking at you! I have been somewhat remiss in posting photos regularly so here are some to get your day started.

Post-bath it's easy to see the curls and the massive amount of hair that Cameron has.
A new favorite pastime is to hold on to the railings while Daddy makes funny faces from the landing below.
Mimi, now I get it! You always told me to get my hair off my face. And as you can see, Cameron looks much better with her hair corralled.
Because she is too cute.
Daycare put Cameron's hair up in a ponytail. As you can see, it left quite an impression. Also impressive? Those blueberry eyes!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Monday Mommy Musings

Cameron has her first case of pink eye. I'm sure I'm not alone in hoping we could have avoided this milestone for many more years. DH is bringing her to the doctor this morning and he'll be on baby duty until I get home tonight. I think this is the first time he's had her alone for an entire day (vs. in the mornings and evenings when I'm traveling) so please wish him luck. I'm more concerned about having to put drops in Cameron's eyes. This is a baby who refused to take sugary sweet Tylenol or Motrin. I can't imagine how bad it will be to keep her eye pried open while squeezing drops into it. Fun times, I'm sure.

Probably the worst part? I didn't know Cameron had pink eye so we went to Holden's birthday party and interact with 3 other babies. Sorry, moms! I did the responsible thing and emailed them and I hope that there wasn't too much cross-contamination of germs. Update: Cameron looked fine this morning except for a scratch underneath her eye. So we dropped her off at daycare per usual with the hope that we don't get the dreaded pick up call.

We're slowly introducing milk in Cameron's bottles. 2 ounces milk, 4 of formula. After a week I'll go to 50%, and so on. She should be close to 100% whole milk by the time we go for her 12 month well appointment. In other fun eating news, Cameron is now refusing to eat anything that is jarred food related (yogurt is out, for example). It looks like the 8-10 jars we have left are going to get donated. We'll also probably end up with at least 1/2 of a tub of formula too. I hate throwing out that stuff...it's so expensive.

Standing...always standing. That is Cameron's new mantra. Cuddling with mommy? No way. And let's not forget - she can do it by herself. No help necessary or wanted. It has resulted in quite a few head bumps and bruises but that's why they make skulls so hard, right? Last night was the first where Cameron decided she wanted to stand in the tub while taking a bath. Aside from some initial nervousness about slipping and whacking her head I actually kind of preferred it. It was so much easier to soap her up in all the right spots. Bath toys have become a must and the little squirters are the best.

Finger nail clipping has become a pain in the ass. Cameron has a couple of scratches on her face because it's a battle for me to clip even one nail at a time. I miss those days of clipping away while she was breastfeeding. Does anyone have any advice on how to make the nail clipping process a little easier?

Another challenge for us is hair. Cameron has the mullet going but because her back hair is curly you can't tell. But I'm more concerned about the hair falling down into her eyes. Daycare sent her home with a Pebbles ponytail (with a rubber band!) and I took it as a message. The only problem is that I can't find good hair fasteners that will stay put and not interfere with napping or be a choking hazard for the other kids when it eventually falls out. I'm adamant about not cutting her hair. Not because I want to be like Celine Dion or Kate Hudson but more because once you start cutting bangs you either need to keep doing it or deal with the pain of growing it out later. Goddess In Progress wrote about this in January and I'm hoping once Cameron's hair gets longer things will be easier. Anyone else have advice?