mama said knock you out...

...taco had his first dose of the childrens museum and loved it. discovery bay is appropriate for babes birth - 3 yrs. museum is a pretty loose term here as it has more of a giant playpark feel, but at the end of 90 min he had learned how to crawl through a whales belly, tumble down the gym mat pyramid and splash around in a mini tidal pool. the rest of the exhibits were more appropriate for older toddlers. we'll wait for him to walk before we join.

...for all my rants about no more big pieces of plastic, we couldn't resist treating him for his 1st bday. taco got his first set of wheels and rock star parking at the playground. he's a little young for the 5 mph battery operated mustang convertible but, man, that little girl has style. she had her little purse and tiara cast aside in the passenger seat. talk about gender identity starting young.






...i've never understood why fetal size is always compared to food, but shmoo is about the size of an apple and his eyes are still fused shut but are sensitive to light. wacky. i think we'll wait a few weeks before we test out that theory. we have our first apptmt with the midwife this week. i'm looking forward to it. the only hiccup i've had so far is dizziness. an iron supplement has me back on track now and the prego is going well.

...gotta shaboogie, taco's waking up.

more ramblings...

...its rare for me to have the morning to myself. after an hr or so of putzing about i'm realizing i should take advantage of this time and just sit for a spell instead of doing chores paying bills checking work emails. nowadays i feel like every moment is filled and my noggin can't stop churning all the thoughts in the mill. gotta slooww down...

...before life is on hyperdrive. taco's going to be a big brother. hooooray! we're very excited. a little bit earlier than planned but completely welcome. (we are obviously NOT the poster couple for NFP, shmoo was conceived the month after i stopped breastfeeding.) its been an exhausting first tri but otherwise uneventful.

...we have all the usual anxiety. how can we possible split our love and attention to taco when he's still just a baby? can we afford 2 kids in daycare? is our house big enough? can we afford another maternity leave? are we ready to lose another year of sleep? needless to say, our mental to do list doubled and the amount of time to complete is now a hard and fast deadline of 6 mths. we'd already started the process of getting our finances in order, taxes, life insurance, wills, refi, blah blah blah. i've added things to the list to make maternity leave more pleasant, i.e. redoing the bedroom and the front yard. we'll see.

...in the words of howard stern, for every 50 words a photo.



...that's right, taco's come away from his first haircut looking a lot like howard cosell. i love it. we'll finish the rest of the trim after his birthday, when we can get him to sit still again.

...taco update: babbling, cruises w/ help and has a sweet tooth. ok that last one is my fault. all our good intentions out the door, i've allowed him to taste ice cream, cake and oreos. not all at once. but seriously, check out his drunken ice cream face. if this doesn't scream bliss, i don't know what does.



...choosing shmoo's birth place and prenatal care is foremost on our minds right now. we had a good experience w/ the nursing staff and our doula at taco's birth, but i regretted receiving the epidural and felt it led to more interventions (pitocin, episiotomy). the alarming rate of 1 in 4 cesareans at our local hospitals is OUTRAGEOUS. also, i'm realizing that i want more for prenatal care than 5-10 min w/ a doctor that ultimately was not part of our delivery. We feel more educated now about our birthing options. Our ultimate goal is to celebrate the birth process as a family and deliver safely with no or minimal interventions. will keep you posted but hope we have the support of family and friends in whatever our final decision is.

...thanks to sciencemama for helping me score the bargain prego tests at whole foods. when you eliminate marketing, plastic packaging and the digital readouts, you can get 3 tests for $5. i can't think of any other medical test that comes in close to that pricing. our copays are 6x that price! granted, everything else in whole foods more than makes up for the savings.