Monthly Archives: July 2012

Suzianne’s first food review.

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Since Mommy is a slacker, it’s Daddy’s turn.

Suzianne started “eating” (eating is a relative term. Wearing, spitting, drooling could also be substituted here) stage 1 food recently and here are her votes:

Suzianne enjoys her carrots. Thoroughly. 

Peas: Meh. She’ll eat them but not that enthused.
Apples: OMG Yesyesyesyes. Please more now.
Pears: See Apples.
Sweet potatoes: Mostly positive. Don’t overdo it.
Bananas (or Nanners in the Newman household): She’ll eat them but doesn’t go crazy like Apples and Pears.
Green Beans: Green Beans are verboten for the near future. Remember the “beans, beans are good for your heart” song? Yes you do. Anyway, it’s real and it kept little Z up all night making noises from everywhere humans can make noises. And she was screaming. So yeah, this is a thumbs down.
Carrots: She likes these but she has to be nakey nakey to eat these or they stain whatever she’s wearing.
Bacon: Come on. I didn’t really feed her bacon…yet.

I’ve been mixing up the brands on these and don’t really see a difference in how much she likes one over another brand of the same food. I should pay more attention to that, though. I’ve been purchasing Gerber, Earth’s Best, O Organics (Safeway’s organic food), and Plum Organics. Also, we tried rice cereal:

Not interested.

Four Months!

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It’s getting harder to get her to sit still long enough to take a picture! This one is not exactly in focus, but it’s cute. So, whatevs.

The bunny has that miffed look on his face because Suzianne had gone all zombie on his ears about 30 seconds before:

Watch her grow! Take a scroll through the Month-by-Month archives.

 

 

Week 17: back to work…back to me!

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I went back to work this week.  As my co-workers will attest, I have not once broken down in tears. I appear sincerely happy to be back.

I am happy to be back. Here’s why:

1. My first day back at work was not my first day away from Suzianne: at first, our time apart was confusing and sad. BUT! Since Suzianne started part-time nanny-share three weeks before I went to work, I did my crying in a Northern Virginia bar with a stranger named “Al.” Therefore, when I returned to the office, it felt like any other day. I highly recommend this strategy.

2. I need an office job. We’ve talked before about my need for structure. I’m a much happier person when I have a routine, a to-do list and social time. There are many smart parents who are able to establish these things within the home; they and their babies thrive in this situation. I’ve tried it. It’s really hard. I don’t do it well. They say that when you have a baby you experience the “ah-ha” moment of “I want to be at home with this baby everyday” or “Good Lord, I miss having lunch with adults, get me outta here.” Staying at home with an infant is most certainly work. I quickly discovered I prefer working outside the home.

3. Absence makes the heart grow fonder: now that I don’t hang with Suzianne 24 hours a day, I’m much more appreciative of the time I spend with her. She’s been quite the sleeper lately, going to bed around 7 each night. This means Dave and I get one hour with her at home in the evenings. ONE HOUR. And it’s awesome. We also treasure the weekends, and, in the category of “Things I thought I’d never say,” we now enjoy our very early mornings with her. That’s right, I now LIKE getting up at 6 a.m. to hang out with someone who is only going to poop, giggle and spit up on me. It’s crazy what having a child will do to you.

Of course, the other thing that made going back so easy was the enthusiasm and support of my fabulous co-workers. Thanks for your love and friendship, folks. And I’m really sorry I nearly killed the welcome back flowers you brought me, Kristen. At least I have this great picture of them, before the drooping set in:

It seems I can keep my child alive, just not a potted plant. (sigh)

This day in history: tin roof, rusted.

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One year ago, Team Newman discovered it was pregnant. I then spent the next several days pretending to be hungover so folks would not pressure me to drink at the many Fourth of July parties we attended.

Today, we have this amazing, healthy, happy baby girl:

And I can eat soft cheese and drink beer again; so, everyone wins!