Judecorp.

Punk has been congested the last couple of nights. No runny nose, no sneezing, just congestion. Which makes for crappy sleep for her. Which makes for crappy sleep for me. And she didn't want to eat breakfast this morning and then didn't eat lunch at day care and I was super worried because umm, she ALWAYS eats. And she started out refusing dinner but then ate about a million dino nuggets so I guess we're good.

Now I have a cold, and I'm getting about 3 hours of sleep a night, which does not bode well for the cold. Oh well. Happy birthday to me tomorrow, hopefully I won't feel like a train hit me like I did today.

I left work early because I felt like crap and because staff meeting was doing chart reviews and all of my charts are done. I laid down for a while and that actually helped a bit. Yay.

There was a miscommunication at work today and I got not one but TWO fancy bakery birthday cakes. It was very sweet (pun intended) and I took the one that didn't get touched home. It's a huge chocolate cake from La Fiorentina (fancy bakery of deliciousness) and I will probably gain 50 pounds. NOM.

I never get a flu shot but I am debating it this year because I get so little sleep that I'm worried I'm going to pick up every little thing. Thoughts?

I know that Punk is a special and unique snowflake and all of that. I do. And I know that it doesn't matter how many people are created by her sperm donor, she will still be special. That's not really the issue. I just do a lot of reading about donor conceived people and the angst they feel later on in life. Granted, a lot of these DC folks are adults and/or young adults now and a lot of them found out about their DC origins later in life and/or were lied to, but I still worry. I mean, you just never know.

We used an anonymous donor who is not willing to be identity-released. At the time, we thought that was the best decision for our family. It was very important to Jen to do things this way, and as she was the "non-bio mom" and therefore had enough stressors about things, I felt that her feelings should be respected on this issue. Originally I wanted a known donor, and I still tend to think I prefer that, but it is what it is. I just wish I could get reliable genetic information for Punk when/if she ever needs it, you know?

Forty families is a lot. It doesn't mean 40 children. It means they say they will give the sperm to 40 different families. Families can buy as many vials as they want and have as many children as they want. And families can always sell/give sperm to other families. And who knows how accurately they really stick to the 40. Most banks say 10 families or 10 families with reported pregnancies. And it's been estimated that only 40% report. (We did, but waaaaaay later. You know, you get busy.) There are already 20 reported births with this particular donor. 20! Many are in Canada because Xytex is one of the few banks that meets Canadian regs.

I am thankful to our donor because I am eternally grateful for Punk. She is the most awesome ever and now knows how to stack two blocks together which is so awesome awesome and makes the EI mama happy. And I want her to be aware of her half-sibs and her origins and all of that, and I do believe in the end she will be happy and glad she was born into our family... but I do worry that she thinks it's unfair that she doesn't really know about half of her genetic material.

~//~

We took Punk to Friendly's last night for a quickie night out. We ordered her a dinner of her own (mac and cheese and hot dogs, not the best ever but we ordered her some broccoli, too) which came with a drink and a little sundae. I ordered her some strawberry ice cream with strawberry sauce. She. Loved. It. She only had a couple of bites (I ate the rest, burp) but she was jonesing for it BIG TIME. She actually busted out the 'more' sign which she never ever ever uses.

I guess "Ice Cream Junkie" is a genetic trait. She must have gotten that along with my blue eyes. :)

Jen is taking teacher certification tests all day, so Punk and I are riding solo. (Well, I guess we can't be solo if we're together, but you know.) It's been a pretty chill day considering Ms. Punk is a veritable drool factory and some tooth/teeth is/are on the horizon, looming. She's got a big bulge on her bottom right side that I originally thought was a molar but now think might be a canine, and she's got something on the top left that I think is trying to drop in as well. She doesn't let me in her mouth enough to know what's up on the other side. But she's been requiring near-constant cosleeping these days and has been pretty restless, although last night was better.

This morning we took a long walk down to downtown E'ton. The original plan (once I got going) was to walk to this cute little Cafe Ralphine that I have never checked out, maybe get a little iced coffee and split a muffin with Punk before walking back. Except that when we got there it was 8:30 and they didn't open until 9, so we walked back. I can't believe she spent an hour in the stroller with no fuss - NEVER happens. Usually I get around the corner from my house before she makes noise to get out. Maybe it was the busy roads, no idea. Either way, when we got back it was hot and humid, and we were sweaty and did not have a muffin. Sad. Also, whatever I was thinking when I walked for an hour in flip flops was way off base. Aah well.

Got home, got her down for a morning nap (her predictable hour), ate a little breakfast, put diapers in the dryer, fun fun times. When she got up, I thought about taking her somewhere, perhaps for lunch, but decided against it and instead we have had a lazy day at home, playing and laughing a lot and just being goofy in general. Punk has taken to putting things on her head which cracks us both up, and she did a lot of good playing with the shape sorter, ring stacker, and blocks (I am determined to teach her to stack blocks). She also threw a lot of toys and drooled like a faucet. Fun!

Lunch was a little stressful thanks to Little Miss Throwing-Food-Is-Fun. Man, I wish I had a dog so I didn't have to waste time in my life trying to sweep up couscous and green beans and lentils. We also had fun letting her spoon-feed herself some applesauce; she is way into trying to spoon-feed these days. A little more playing and then the afternoon nap, which gave me time to make some lunch (yay!). I made a box of mac and cheese and slipped some into a container for her dinner. She will be pleasantly surprised.

I sent Jen a text message somewhere around 10:30 or 11am. I know that she can't have her phone on during the tests but I also know there was a break in between so I'm not really sure what is up. I haven't heard anything from her since she left around 7am.

Aah, Friendly's, how I hate thee. (Sorry, lorac.)

For starters, every Friendly's smells the same. AND you leave smelling like Friendly's. For a long time.

But we decided to go out to the outlets in Lee and wanted a sit-down place to feed the kid. And Friendly's was closest (aside from the food court), so Friendly's it was. Two hours of Friendly's, because the Friendly's in Lee is officially the slowest Friendly's ever. (How many times can I use Friendly's in this post?)

Punk is a sainted baby, though, because she withstood two hours in Friendly's, mainly by eating everything in sight. I actually ordered her something from the menu today for the first time (a side of broccoli). What a big girl! But she amused herself by staring at other people until they made silly faces at her, and eating broccoli, and dancing in her Ray Charles manner, and eating more broccoli. She pretty much ate the entire side of broccoli, plus some of Jen's chicken noodle soup, plus a cracker, plus some of the ground beef and sweet potatoes and pears I'd brought from home, plus a few pieces of freeze-dried fruit. She is a horse.

She also had an entire bag of freeze-dried fruit before we left. And had an 8oz bottle a little while after lunch. And had a container of yogurt and a little more freeze-dried fruit as a snack after her little Ergo nap. And then, at a Wendy's on the way home because it was far too late, ate a 6oz jar of stage 3 dinner, at least two chicken nuggets, and some of a baked potato. DOES SHE HAVE A HOLLOW LEG?

She really was the awesomest baby ever today, though. It's amazing how much easier it is to take her places and not be chained to the house and the nap routine or whatever. It's like a whole different kid. No puking, no random fits of crying for hours, no needing to take a 30 minute nap every 90 minutes, and she can sit in a high chair. A-maz-ing.

Also, she is cute. So I bought her a bunch of crap she doesn't need from the Gymboree outlet. And we got a kiddie pool. RAWK.

Tomorrow she will be 11 months old.

Alright, I'll bite... what /are/ your thoughts on lima beans? Garbanzos, black beans, heck, even lentils? Do you have any good recipes to share? (Ok, not having access to the foodnetwork has really kicked in now...)

Ha!

I don't particularly like eating lima beans. They seem kind of tasteless to me. I suppose I don't DISlike them, and I would eat them in a dish, but I don't go around putting lima beans in things. HOWEVER, I do like using beans/seeds and soaking them and trying to make plants out of them, and lima beans are VERY good for this. In fact, in college for fun I made a bunch of lima bean plants, and one of them got quite huge and actually started producing lima beans of its own. That was fun! (I have also done peas, corn kernels, and a few other beans.)

I really like garbanzo beans, especially when made into delicious hummus or on top of a yummy salad. And I prefer black beans to, say, pinto beans. I don't know much about lentils. At all.

And umm, I don't really cook worth a damn so I'm afraid I'm really of no help to you whatsoever in the recipe department. However, a number of my peeps are good cooks, especially my smurfbrother, and I do invite them all to now share their best bean/pea/legume recipes with you. :)

I made it to Boston after all. stacy had to convince me several times over that Glenn really wouldn't mind if I crashed at his house, seeing as how we never met and he had just moved in and wasn't unpacked. But he really didn't mind, so it wasn't awkward or yucky at all. And he lives a quick bus ride to Harvard Square so I didn't have to worry about parking or a long ride or whatever. Yay!

So I got to Glenn's and first off they gave me some delicious PIE. I mean, I walked in and within five minutes stacy was all, "Have some pie." It has to be a good day when someone throws pie at you, you know? So I hung out with S and G for a while and alternated between having a secret club with G while S was in the shower, and having a secret girl club with S while G put his kitchen table together. His apartment is super cute and is the perfect size for one person, and super convenient to his job - great find.

Then I met up with Jodie and Tom in the Square and we could not decide on dinner (three indecisive people should never go out together). We tried a couple of places that were too packed and ended up at Grendel's Den and ate some sammiches while Tom coughed up a lung and I prayed to every god I could think of that I don't catch whatever it is he's stewing. Then we went to the show, which was in a small venue and was packed.

It hit me while I was there that I have been listening to Black 47 for something like 18 years now. (WTH? When did I get so OLD?) and that my first B47 show was 11.5 years ago, right after I turned 21 and could finally go into the bars. I must be getting older because the band (especially Larry) is starting to look really old.

I love Larry Kirwin because he reminds me SO much of Ryan (whod81). And of course I love Ryan. So the whole time I was thinking about R and also listening to some fun music. Apparently they have a new album coming out and the whole album seems to be about the war in Iraq. Not exactly the cheeriest stuff ever but they always make it /sound/ fun. Either way it was a good time except for the tall man in front of me who smelled really badly. Then I parted ways with J and T and got back on the bus, woke S up to let me back in, and camped out on G's living room floor. Not really the best sleep I've ever had but it was worth it.

We all got up in the morning and I think I got up first (I'm on Baby Time) and so I was playing a little DS. Both G /and/ S thought I had some sort of makeup case instead of a DS. (WTF? Ha ha) Either way, I played a little MySims and then everyone got up and we sort of lollygagged around until we were all starving and salivating about pancakes, so G remembered there was a diner a way down the road and I drove us all down there, and poor G had to smoosh in next to my gigantic car seat. (Sorry!) We talked and talked and talked and I likely annoyed them all to death and G got a headache and I took them home and took off. I was hoping to catch folkyboy yesterday but he didn't answer the phone in the morning and by the time we got back from breakfast it was already about 12:45 so I thought it would be better if I just took off to save Jen from the baby.

Thank you so much to Glenn and Stacy for their hospitality (and PIE!!)! It was fun to see everyone and go out at night. The only thing that would have made it better is if I'd had my family with me. It's no fun hanging alone.

I feel very accomplished today.

I had the pantry closet cleaned out and reorganized and the fridge cleared out before 9am. That felt good. That created two bags of food for the drop-off at church, and got rid of some extraneous packaging from buying in bulk (big boxes with two cans of tomatoes in them, for example). Phew.

Jen made pancakes before going to church, and Punk and I hung at home. It was a game - I would try to get her to nap, and she would very physically refuse. At some point, the kid needs to learn to Submit To The Nap.

Did some general baby-ness throughout the day and even caught a little breather thanks to Jen, who amused the baby for a little while so I could lay down. After the little break, I got groceries for the week, got the baby into bed for the night, ate a yummy taco dinner, cleaned up the living room a bit, folded the rest of the laundry, put the diapers in the washer, cleaned the cat boxes, took out the garbage and the recycle, and put all of my laundry away. I am D-O-N-E for the night and it feels GOOD.

~//~

Punk's been a little wonky with the sleeping as of late - in bed by 6:30 or 7 like normal, but then waking up crying and hungry around 9:30 (used to be 11), and then wanting to wake up at 1, 3, and 5. Ugh. Last night I took her into bed with me at 1 and she slept (and kicked me) until 3, when she got more milk and was back in bed until 6, when she was making noise again so I took her back into bed with me until 7:30. I'm sure all of this snuggling in the nice Big People Bed is going to come back and bite me in the butt later (there goes my Detachment Parenting!) but it's kind of cute and snuggly and I don't have to worry about her being cold in her room.

To try to kill the 9:30ness, we slipped her 7oz of milk instead of 5 at bedtime. Here's hoping! I'd like to ideally go back to the 10:30-11pm dreamfeed and only one wake-up (3am).

1. Happy birthday, hopemcg!! I hope you have a fantabulous day!

2. We went to one of those membership wholesale stores that scare the crap out of me yesterday. We had a temporary three month free membership that we activated to buy BBQ food last month. We decided to stock the house up with "pre-baby" stuff you don't want to run out of when you're feeling exhausted, like toilet paper and shampoo and beverages. We also now own the /largest/ bottle of laundry detergent I have ever seen. Dude, it's huge. I am so scared of those places.

3. Yesterday, Eryn and Amy invited us to their house for dinner. But they called at noon and I didn't check my phone until 6pm (oops), right after Jen had dumped charcoal into the grill. So instead they came to our place, but we have to make it to their place again soon. Whoops! We also played lots of 10 Days in Africa until I couldn't sit at the table anymore. Ow.

4. Remember that Van Halen song, "Right Now"? And the video that had lots of weird statements like, "Right now, you could be sleeping," or whatever? Well, if that video was my life at present, it would say, "Right now, you should be drinking a tasty beverage." Because I am so thirsty yet too lazy to go to the kitchen. Which I guess means my video should say, "Right now you are a really lazy bastard."

5. I missed lots of the last season of L&O:SVU because I kept falling asleep before 10. Last night I managed to catch two of last season's episodes that I missed. That was fun, because I'm tired of watching the same episodes 387983241134678 times. When Jodie and Pedro were here, we kept trying to see who could be the first person to guess the episode by the opening segment. That was when I realized I watch too much cable.

6. I have Bravo's "Gay Weddings" on DVD right now from Netflix. I hope it's good. I ended up returning my two Netflix movies unwatched (which I never do on principle) because I had had them since MARCH. Peace out, Netflix movies!

7. Right now, I'm going to get a tasty beverage. And maybe have some leftover pasta salad from last night. Mmmm, pasta salad.

Our day of doing nothing was a complete success. I didn't take a shower until after 4pm. I got up at 8:30, ate breakfast, then got back into bed with Jen for a while. Then we sat around like sloths and watched some television - we caught the two episodes of "Top Chef" that we missed. Jen made me lunch, and we sat around some more, then did some more nothing.

Eventually we took showers, got some dinner, and went to the movies. We sneaked DQ Blizzards into the theatre - awesome. We saw Knocked Up. It wasn't as terrible as it could have been. Although some air conditioning would have been nice.

I don't know why I let Jen talk me into going to Chili's for dinner. I freaking hate the food at Chili's. Oh well. Half of the big Jehovah's Witness convention was there for dinner and the place was PACKED.

Also, people apparently love to stare at you when you dare to go out in public with a big, round belly. Or maybe just when you walk around like big old queers? I don't know.

The end.

So Jodie is visiting for the weekend, and it's been pretty much a license to eat junk. We ordered in take-out italian food on Thursday night, ate BK on Friday for lunch, finished the take-out italian for dinner Friday, had Dunkins for Saturday breakfast, had a moderately healthy lunch at the Noho Brewery that day, and then three courses of delicious at the Argentinean steakhouse last night. Oh, and ice cream. BURP.

I tried to rectify a little of this by making whole wheat pancakes for us this morning with applesauce and banana slices. And my Jennifer promises a healthy dinner tonight, which is exciting after so much take out and eat out. All that leaves is lunch, and we'll be going somewhere with crazy Pedro, which should be a ton of fun. I'll have to remember to take photos, but Jodie swears that every time I'm with Pedro I end up with photos of me tweaking his nipples. I remember none of this. IT IS ALL A LIE, PEOPLE.

We have also watched a LOT of Law and Order (different flavors), did a little Noho shopping, got Jen's car inspected, and have been having a nice, relaxing time. Jodie turned our living room into a sweatshop on Friday while I was at work and hunched over her sewing machine all day making us a quilt and curtains. Do friends get any better than that? I brought her BK on my way home from work Friday afternoon and learned that she had eaten and drunk NOTHING all day. (It was nearly 3pm.) It was like Nike in here!!

Tomorrow starts my last week of work, holy carp!!