Rockin' Out

Day 45 (all) - Mom will do anything to make Ruth happy. Let's hope this isn't the moment for a diaper blowout.











Yay!













If I had a hammer, I'd smash the patriarchy!

Adventure: Postscript

I wanted to add one thing: Ruth is breastfed and I've no issue feeding her in public. In Maryland the law (Md. Health-General Code Ann. § 20-801) permits a woman to breastfeed her infant in any public or private place where she and the infant are allowed to be and prohibits anyone from restricting or limiting this right.

Thus far, I've fed her at a community association get-together, on our back and front porches, local park, and a local cafe. Maybe it is just me but I think most people prefer a quiet, breastfeeding infant to one Oh, and in the doctor's office. Coincidentally, the pediatrician's office was the only place I've had a problem -- not from the pediatrician, of course, but from a parent who "didn't want [her] sons to see that." Yes, I was very surprised too. Yes, the staff informed the parent that no only was I within my rights but that the practice encouraged moms to breastfeed where they were comfortable.

If Ruth woke up on the MARC train, I'd have popped her right on. But she work up as we were waiting for the F6 bus. She has a good latch but the thought of trying to hold her as the bus bumped along from New Carrollton to College Park made me nervous -- metro bus drivers are not known for smooth transit.

Adventure!

Day 42 - Adventures with baby. On Wednesday, I had a meeting that I needed to be physically at on campus. Since it's after the end of the semester, but before the beginning of summer classes, we figured that there'd be almost no one around, and it'd be a good day to do a trial run of bringing her to campus (I'm planning to do it at least 1/week while I'm running MLI in June and July).She was actually very easy. Foolishly, we didn't pack a bottle of milk, and 2 hours (the length of my commute - yes, each way, welcome to DC-area housing patterns/prices) is a bit long for her to go without eating. But we made it (though she glommed on to the breast as soon as it was available in my office). The train seemed to put her to sleep pretty quickly - though every time they would announce the station over the loudspeakers (always set at ear-bleeding volume on MARC trains), I had to stand up to calm her. Not rock or anything, just stand up. It's a little weird.

Anyway, she met some of my colleagues, and was mostly quiet (mostly eating, apparently) during my meeting. Diapers were changed without major incident. We got some photos on the train, and in front of my office bookshelf (should there be a prize for the person who can read the most titles? Am I the only person who obsessively tries to make out book titles in photos? Some of the ones you can see here are quite good, actually).

Of course, if you're reading this via Blogger, you can just ogle the self-indulgent LibraryThing display toward the lower right.

Throw me the Idol!

Day 31 - meeting our friend Jason (oops, forgot to post this one before)













Day 38 - Hanging with cool uncle David. No, her neck's not broken.












Day 39 - Meeting Rabbi Ben. Fortunately for their relationship, it'll just be a Simcha Bat, not a bris.

In honor of the return of Indiana Jones, Melissa and I have gotten quite adept at pulling the idol trick from the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Ruth is having none of pacifiers (communist). But, it often works to calm her for someone to put a finger in her mouth to suck on (she has not yet mastered the art of sucking on her own fingers). This, unfortunately, puts a damper on whatever else you might want to do with your time. But we've found that, if you're quick enough about it, you can slide one finger out and slip another finger of similar size - but attached to someone else's hand - in, in that bare moment before she begins squalling.

Sigh.

Snnooorrrrrk

Day 36 - Milk-drunk. Would that it were always this easy.

Anti-Flag is Still Popular

Ruth was fussing a bit this morning, but didn't want the breast, so I took her off M's hands for a bit (so that mom could have a shower and some sanity - M wants me to point out that she doesn't just hand her off to me all the time, which is true. But everyone, even the best moms, needs a break from time to time).

Anyway, as is usual for morning fussing, she wanted my finger, then she didn't. She wanted to look around, then not so much (it's just brain development - M and I have both been trying to be good about talking about her being more "difficult" or "easier" rather than "good" or "bad").

I'd just finished putting together a list of the songs that I'd played at last night's playtest of a friend's game (Misspent Youth), and so thought maybe she'd like it if I put on some music. I'd played her a lot of stuff in the womb (I AM A HIPPIE), and she'd seemed to like best stuff with a strong beat (I think we talked about this elsewhere in the blog). Anyway, so I thought it might work.

I bundled her up in the Mei Tai and put on Anti-Flag's awesome (even though it's newish, and it's only cool to like OLD SCHOOL STUFF) For Blood and Empire, and we danced around. We (gently) pogoed to "I'd Tell You But..." and then did a bit of a (gentle) circle pit to "The Press Corpse." But then she started trying to track things, which made her turn her neck at an uncomfortable angle, so I figured I'd stop before she spit up. She fell asleep some time during just kind of bouncing to "Emigre." She doesn't have a lot of stamina yet. But we'll work on it.

Actually, Anti-Flag was her first concert (in M's belly, where the speakers were a bit muffled, I'm sure), though it was on the A Benefit for Victims of Violent Crime tour. Then Ani DiFranco. She's totally going to grow up to be a Toby Keith fan.

Quick Update While She Sleeps

Ruth went back to the pediatrician this morning for a weight check since she'd had some feeding issues in the beginning.

She weighed in at 9 lbs. 9 oz., almost three pounds heavier than her birth weight of 6 lbs. 12.8 oz. She is now nearing the 55th percentile for weight (I forgot to ask about length).

Ruth is also becoming more alert and tracking objects. She makes noises now -- coos and ahhs and short shrieks. She smiles too, though not at anything in particular. Her hair is falling out but that is normal.

Green

Day 31 - Our cloth diapers and solar-powered clothes dryer!

I'm not sure if this makes us green, or white trash.












Day 31 - Ruth with her fig tree.

When I was growing up, both my brother and I had trees that were "ours." I had a magnolia outside my window, and I think my brother's was a Japanese Maple in the front yard. I seem to remember my parents saying that they were planted the year we were born, but I may be misremembering - help? Anyway, I thought it was a nice sentiment.

Plus, figs = yum.

Ruth's is a Texas Everbearing (aka Brown Turkey) Fig. It's supposed to grow 40' tall and 60' wide, which I figure will take a couple of years. For those of you who don't know her, though, Melissa is 28' tall, so it's already got a good start!

A Potato Grows in Baltimore

Day 29 - With Grampy and Grammy Again (check reference photo for size comparison)


















Day 29 (still) - Hanging out with Lauren (I won't inflict anything cutesy like "Auntie Lauren" on her)

Sleep, Rinse, Repeat

Day 26 - Zonked out on mom, for once.


















Day 27 - Bathtime! She looked less skeptical before we started taking photos.

I See London, I See France

Day 24 - Cloth diapers are go!

Today, we had two smallish victories. First, we managed to get Ruth into the cloth diapers, and they fit... sort of. Which means that we don't need to keep going through disposables, which was making me tense (and filling landfills).

Second, we managed to get Ruth to take the bottle twice, and now Melissa has pumped enough to take herself on a baby-free outing for Mother's Day tomorrow (hey, we celebrate Labor Day by getting the day off, too). After three weeks of being tethered to Ruth, cute as she is, the ability to leave her with me seems like a step forward for women's liberation comparable to suffrage and the Pill.

Our child does have eyes

Ruth_and_dad
Originally uploaded by melissataurus

My friend Susan came to visit on Sunday. She has very good taste in baby clothes, as you can see from the photo.

Ruth had been napping on Daniel for a bit when she woke up. Or, more specifically, woke up calm and not looking at mom with mouth agape and brow furrowed as if to ask, "Where's my breakfast [or 2d breakfast or elevenses or lunch or afternoon snack or dinner...]

More Family!

Day 18 - With Grandad and Phyllis

Richard and Phyllis came down to see Ruth this weekend, which was nice - now she's seen all the grandparents. I completely charred the pork I was making on the grill, but people ate it anyway.