Too Old to Breast-feed?

I breastfed my son Ricky for his first 14 months. I did it for all the reasons the doctors say to do it - it's good for the baby, it gives the baby his immunities, it supposedly increases the baby's IQ, and helped me drop those 45 pounds I gained during pregnancy. Although kind of painful at times, I found breastfeeding to be very rewarding.

There is nothing wrong with mothers who choose NOT to breastfeed. That is their own personal choice or sometimes their breasts cannot produce milk and they have problems nursing so they cannot.

I take Ricky to his Toddler Tumbling class every Wednesday and I saw the following:

Three toddler boys had a mild collision on the trampoline. Two of the boys walked away shaken but okay and one - Nathan, a 3 year old- was crying. He went to his mother and just wanted a hug. She put him under her shirt and breastfed him for about 15 minutes in the middle of the floor for all to see! My mommy friends and the other mommies were grossed out. It certainly did not helpthe situation that the mommy is very obese.

I noticed that the mothers who never nursed their kids were especially grossed out. The mothers who I know did nurse their kids were grossed out as well, but were not as obnoxious as the ones who never nursed. It was interesting and sad to see the stigma associated with nursing but with the older age of the child, I kind of understood it at the same time. In a way, I felt like I was betraying all the nursing mothers of the world.

Nathan is three years old. I used to nurse Ricky once in a while to comfort him if he fell or hurt himself during those 14 months of nursing, but at three years old I just hug and kiss him. I tried to explain this concept to the moms who never nursed - but it didn't matter. They were still disgusted.

I guess it's a personal matter. Ricky says BOOBS now and then and he has acquired a habit of touching mine and reaching for the breasts of my mom, aunt, and cousin also. I think that if the child can say "breast" and giggle about them, he is too old to be nursing. But then again, who am I to say? I guess I am not sure how old is too old so... How old is too old?

A Not-So-Bad Christmas Shopping List

When I was younger, I used to LOVE Christmas shopping with my mom and sister. It would be so much fun. Now that I have a toddler, it is really hard to grocery shop - let alone roam the mall looking for that perfect trinket for this person and that person.

Luckily, at Thanksgiving, my family decided that we would not buy for the adults, just the kids (2). But if you would like to buy a Christmas present for someone, you can do that - but do not exchange at Christmas Eve. This is kind of a wacky arrangement - you are allowed to show favoritism - as long as it is not viewable at the family gathering.

With Mark's family, it was decided that we would not buy for the adults, just kids (4). My sister in law and husband can buy gifts for their mom and grandma if they choose. This could be a slippery slope since my mother in law babysits for her (and has not babysat Ricky for even 5 minutes in his lifetime) so of course my sister-in-law will want to buy her something wonderful (super duper expensive).

So in all, here is my Christmas List:

Ricky, my toddler son - toys
Cousin (age 13) - money
Nephew (age 15) - money, maybe clothes
Nephew (age 12) - skateboard, skater clothes
Niece (age 9) - clothes, art supplies
Neighbor (age 3) - toys
Neighbor (age 5) - toys

My mom (major babysitter) from Ricky
My aunt (major babysitter) from Ricky
My cousin (age 26 - minor babysitter) from Ricky

My mother-in-law
My grandma-in-law

My 4 mommy friends & their families - homemade sugar cookies in xmas tin from Michaels
Ricky's toddler friend grab bag
My 9 co-workers(???)
My boss (??)

Not a bad list by any means. It's been a lot worse in the past and with the recent threats to malls by Al Qaeda, I am glad my list is so small.

I am screwed with my co-workers and boss. This is my first Christmas working here. I was told that everyone gives gifts to everyone. The knitters made scarves and trinkets for everyone. I am lost. Can't give homemade treats - that's too many people. I wouldn't be sleeping - I'd be a baking zombie. Guess I better brainstorm quickly!!!

Living Next Door To Jimmy Appleseed

I have been a bad bad girl and have not blogged for a long time. Never mind the fact that I am a NaBloPoMo drop-out. I have been saving lots of things to write about, namely, the fact that we live next to a man who has tons of trees on his property - he told me once that they came from seeds he planted years ago. That is all fine and dandy. I love trees. But the man refuses to clean up after them. In the seven years we have been living next door to him, we have never once seen him rake his leaves. They just keep blowing onto our yard - then onto the neighbors' yards and pissing everyone off.

He does not own a rake!! He must not, because it's never been used.

Here are pictures of our front yard. Mind you, our landscapers completely cleaned our yards the day before - and not one leaf was seen. Because of the winds, these leaves you see are from our neighbor's yard - and are now our headache.

Mark and I complain about this every fall - and since this is our last fall in this house, I am glad we won't have to deal with again - because our future next door neighbors are thankfully very anal about their yards. The only bad thing there is that we are afraid they will complain about us. We plan on keeping the landscapers - there would be no way to keep up with the neighbors otherwise!

A Librarian's Initiation

Before I worked at the public library, I was the type of person who would get sick maybe once a year. There was actually a year there when I went the entire year without a cold. I had migraines - but no viruses of any kind. I look back on that immune systen with fondness because I am getting my butt kicked!

I am sick for the third time in less than 2 months! I *just* finished my antibiotic from my last cold last week and had 5 days of feeling fine and clear. Then I woke up yesterday with the itchy throat and running nose and thought, "NO NO NO!!!!"

You would think that I roll around in public restrooms or eat off the floor at a rest area. But no, it is simply my first flu season working at the public library and my immune system is getting a workout. Two librarian friends of mine all say that their first winter working at the library had them sick constantly - so I guess I don't feel too bad. I suppose this is my initiation. I guess this is better than drinking a whole keg or performing sexual favors for upperclassmen.

The part that drives me crazy is that Ricky has a cold again too - after just getting over one two weeks ago. The minute we are both not sick I am taking us both to get flu shots. The poor kid is exposed to all these germs because of his mama. Mark's building downtown offers free flu shots so I told him he better take advantage of it and go when they are offered.

Today is the coldest day of the year. I don't mind hiding under big sweaters and my fuzzy boots, just as long as I am healthy.

Library Adventures, Part 3

Just when I thought I've seen it all here, something happened when I worked last Thursday.

I was sitting at the Adult Fiction desk in the basement and had no idea that the following was taking place upstairs in Circulation:

Apparently, an older man burst through the front door of the library and locked himself in the Staff Kitchen and took a shit *everywhere*. When he came out, his pants, underwear, and excrement were around his ankles and he left a trail for about 20 feet before someone intervened. Many policemen were here and some said that this man had actually done this to a few businesses in the area before.

Very sad. I learned from my supervisor that this man was about to start a road trip and his family was waiting in the car. I also learned that he has done this before in 2 other businesses in the neighborhood. So I guess he's not the Crapping Bandit I thought he was. Time for Depends. Poor guy. How very embarassing. Don't know who to feel bad for more - this guy or our maintenance guy who had to clean up the mess!

Progress

I am very happy to report that Ricky has been improving = spending more hours in the night in his own bed instead of ours.

The first night was bad - he woke up at 12:30am crying and I spent an hour trying to get him to go back to sleep. Then he was up again at 4:30am asking to come into our bed and I gave up - and threw him in our bed. I was a zombie the whole day.

The second night he got up at 1am and he went back to bed after I spent half an hour with him. He was crying and whining that he wanted to go in our bed.

The third night (last night) he slept the entire night - but woke up at 5:30am. I threw him in our bed and we all continued sleeping til it was time to get up.

Not perfect but it's progress. I don't want to jinx myself, but I thought it would be a lot more painful than this.

Not sure this NaBloPoMo was a good idea for me. I already missed a day. I didn't even make it a week!

Accidental Co-Sleeping Hell

We have a huge problem. For the last 3 months or so, Ricky has been getting up in the middle of the night - usually between 12am and 2am, and yelling, "MOM-ee...mom-EEE??" over and over again, until I go to his room, pick him up, and bring him to our bed.

He has his own room and his own big boy bed. However, over the summer, Mark and I have been guilty of joining Ricky for his after-lunch nap and inviting him to share our bed. So much so that gradually Ricky has come to view our bed as *his* bed and has been expecting to come into our bed every night since. So this isn't partially our fault - it is completely our fault.

We have a queen size bed, so there's not a whole lot of room, and I typically lose - with only a few inches on the very edge to my name. Ricky is a swatter, kicker, and puncher in his sleep and I have awoken several times to believing someone was attacking me.

This really sucked over the weekend. I worked Saturday and am still sick and Mark did lots of work at my mom's house and was just tired. Ricky came in our bed at midnight and proceeded to whine and talk and would not go to sleep and this went on and on throughout the course of the night. Not only are we sleep-deprived but this has impacted reproductive chances. You can't have sex when your toddler is in bed with you and if you do, then you are a sick mf-er!!

We decided that enough is enough.

Last night, when Ricky called, I sat at his bed, stroked his head and back and stayed there for as long as I could until he fell asleep. I have to wait until he is in deep sleep, you see, because our hardwood floors are the creakiest things in the world. One loud creak and I am up shit's creek!!

I think we will have to purchase a gate for his room as well. Since he has a big boy bed, he can just waltz right into our room or go into any room in the house. There is a paranoid part of me that does worry about not being able to get to him in the event of a fire, but what is the difference if he were still in his crib like his other friends? This has to stop. I am so tired all the time!

Baby Monkey's Bookshelf

This morning I joined NaBloPoMo and I am kind of scared. It seemed like a good idea at the time because I do talk a lot - but how the heck can I come up with quality every day, for 30 days? I guess I'll just have to see what I come up with...

When I was cleaning the bedrooms today, I was struck at how many library books Ricky has. So I decided to take a picture. Here is a picture of Ricky's bookshelf - in particular, the books I checked out of the library at the bottom of the bookcase. You can see the white tags indicating author's last names at the bottom. When I looked up my record at the library last night, it said that I had over 50 children's books checked out.

I wonder if I am crazy checking out so many books for my child. I guess since we read 5-10 books at naptime, then another 5-10 books at bedtime, another 5-10 books I read to him throughout the day, and rotate every day, variety never hurt anyone.

So yes, I do enjoy reading books to my son and I love children's books. I would like to think that all this reading has contributed to his language and verbal development. His sentences are 11-13 words long - not so shabby for a 2 1/2 year old. Oh yeah, and those 14 months I breastfed him too... all that breastmilk should have helped his brain...it better have!!

Toddler Tumbling Class

Before I started working at the library in April, I had Ricky taking toddler classes three times a week since last year. He had an art class, music class, and a playgroup at the Chicago Park District. Nowadays they have all kinds of classes for humans starting when they are in the womb! I didn't attend any type of formalized class until kindergarten - I just stayed at home with my Grandma, watching "One Life to Live" and "General Hospital" and learning about my world via the television set. So I guess it's not crucial that Ricky attends classes, but I suppose it can't hurt.

I signed up for this class along with 3 of my mommy friends and it has been a great way to get together every week. We did do playdates over the summer at people's houses or at the park, but now that it's getting colder and school has started, we are all a little busier.

This class is offered through the Chicago Park District and only cost us $45. It has 20 toddlers in it and they put out various stations that the kids can use as well as general open gymnastics equipment. The teacher does round us all up to do stretches (photo) and we also do the parachute thing-y which Ricky just loves. In the beginning I was freaking out because Ricky did not want to do what all the kids were doing - he would wander off if he was bored with the activity at hand (ie stretching) but now I don't care.

Mark took Halloween off - so he was able to attend the class with us and see what Ricky's class is like. I took the opportunity of this help to take some snap shots of the class.

My Mother, the Axe Murderer

This year is little Ricky's first year of officially going door-to-door and threatening tricks if no treats are given. This is his third Halloween. The first and second Halloween were spent going to specific houses of friends and family to show off our child in his adorable costume. This year he is old enough to speak in sentences, walk up and down steps, and hold his own pumpkin basket. He walked with his Dad while I captured every minute with my new camera and video camera.

We just walked up and down our block and visited the neighbors. Although we practiced the whole scenario of saying "Trick or Treat!!" and replying to the gesture by saying "Thank you" Ricky remained silent for more than half the trip and Mark had to do all the "work." As we neared the end of our trip, he actually *did* say thank you to a few women who Mark noticed were nice and nice-looking. They had to be both, not one quality without the other. Kind of funny!

We went to my mom's house to trick or treat and I convinced Mark to wear a scary mask and long hair wig to scare the pants off my mom. It worked. Very funny. After that visit, we were exhausted. However not too exhausted to do something utterly immature.....

With Ricky sitting in his car seat in back and Mark driving, I put on the scary mask (that Ricky is wearing in the picture above) in the passenger seat, rolled down my window, and screammed/growled as loudly as I could (with Mark's help) to anybody on the sidewalk, crosswalk, bus stop, etc. It was so much fun - if this is what boys do, it was a complete blast. The funniest incident was when we growled to a pre-teen boy alone riding his bicycle - he nearly shit in his pants. We laughed for blocks though and I do feel bad for him now, because he looked pretty scared - but the look on his face was absolutely classic.

I turned back to look at little Ricky and he was smiling at me and Mark and I have to wonder what he will say about this when he is older...if he will remember his crazy parents growling at people in the car, with his mother in the axe murderer mask?