baby weight update

I’ve been hesitant to post any updates on the baby weight because the weight has been hesitant to come off.  So here’s a recap, if you’re interested.  It’s blog posts like these that I remind myself…I am doing this for myself, for my kids, because these are the details that I might try to remember 10 or 30 years from now…because yes, this will probably bore your socks off.

disclaimer: those are not my feet, that is not my scale, and that is DEFINITELY not my weight.

Pregnancy weight gain:  22 pounds

Loss 1 week postpartum: 10 pounds

Loss 2 weeks postpartum:  12 pounds

Loss 3 weeks postpartum: 10 pounds

What?  Yes, that’s right, I gained 2 pounds.  So what.  I wasn’t diabetic anymore and there were a lot of things I had been craving. 

Loss 6 weeks postpartum: 12 pounds

Aaaaand, cut.  That’s pretty much where the weight loss halted.  I was partly scared to weigh myself very often, but I stepped on occasionally, half relieved that I hadn’t gained any and half disappointed that I hadn’t lost more.  I don’t know what it is about that 3 month mark, but that’s when I started losing the weight after Theo was born.  Maybe it’s because his demand for milk increased so my output increased, meaning that I technically lost more calories.  Maybe it’s because I’m back at work (but that doesn’t make sense because I sit at a desk and have much less activity).  Maybe it’s because I’m pumping 4 times a day now and producing anywhere from 4-10 more ounces than what Dexter is eating from bottles at the babysitter’s house. 

Loss 12 weeks postpartum:  14 pounds
Loss 3+ months postpartum: 16 pounds

So, I still have 6 pounds to go to get to my pre-pregnancy weight and truly about 10 pounds to go to be super happy with my weight.  I am not freaking out about it taking a while to get the weight off.  I’m still thankful and happy that following the diabetic diet during pregnancy kept my weight gain down to just 22 pounds. 

The real test will be keeping the weight off once Dexter starts eating solids and eventually weans from nursing.  I’d like to adapt a more active lifestyle but it just seems impossible right now to find the time.  In fact, we cancelled our YMCA membership a couple of months ago because it felt like throwing $70 down the drain…I guess technically it was a charitable donation, right?  But I can charitably donate that money to my checking account right now while I figure out how to make time for exercising. 

I bet I’d lose weight a lot faster if I didn’t stop at McDonald’s for a glorious sweet tea almost every day. 

yum,
~C~

m.i.t.m. turns 1!

145 posts later, I guess you could say I’ve been able to keep up.  I’m averaging a blog every 2.5 days.  I started my blog a year ago today and I didn’t know how well I would be able to manage it, my full time job, my full time house, full time husband and full time, er mandatory overtime, 5 month old baby. 

disclaimer:  not my hands.  not my computer.

I became interested in blogs as a reader when I was about 6 months pregnant with Theo.  I started reading and following a few blogs here and there.  Once I came back to work after maternity leave, I realized why there are so many mommy blogs out there.  Okay, so I guess there are some blogs that provide enough of an income that the mama-author can stay home with their kids (mine is certainly not that and will never be).  But mainly, it’s a fun way to make friends and get feedback about what’s going with your own kids, whether something hilarious or scary is happening.  It’s a great way to document the day to day stuff that I know I’d otherwise forget as time is flying by. 

Since I started my blog, so much has changed.  I wasn’t even pregnant with Dexter yet and here we are, 12 months later, and I’ve got a 17 month old and a 3 month old.  I’m glad I had my blog to document my emotional and physical journey through the pregnancy and beyond. 

Sometimes I have to remind myself why I blog.  It’s for me.  It’s an outlet, a way to express myself.  A place to jot down memories that I don’t want to forget.  It’s for my kids to read one day.  But at times, I lose sight of that.  I will write what I think is a good post and get no comments.  I will visit other blogs that I love and see how many readers they have.  Then I get down on myself, wondering how to reach more readers, how to become a bigger part of the blogging mommy community.  There’s so much support and understanding out there and sometimes I want a piece of that pie.  I want to be funny and smart and well-written, but sometimes none of those things happen.  Especially when I blog just because I haven’t blogged in awhile, and not because I have something to say. 

Ultimately, whether I continue with 30 readers or end up with 100 or 1,000 one day, the blog is for me.  It’s for my family.  Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if I’m funny or smart or well-written because I’m genuine and I’m me.  Ultimately, my blog is me.  Maybe it’s too personal sometimes, or maybe it’s not personal enough.  Much like my true personality.  If it gets rejected in some way, that’s fine.  I was never the popular girl in high school and that turned out alright, so I can handle rejection.  It’s a virtual diary and scrapbook, all in one and I’m generally happy about the shape it’s taken.

Finally.

If you’re still reading this long, drawn-out entry, thank you.  If you’ve been reading this blog for the last year, or just the last 10 minutes, thank you.  I submitted my blog to Top Mommy Blogs a couple of weeks ago, hoping to find new friends that share a love of blogging.  My blog is still under review but if and when it is accepted, you can vote once per day.  I’d love it if you’d just vote once each time you read my blog (if you still like it, that is!) 

And comments or no comments, I am going to keep blogging.  But I sure enjoy the feedback and so many of your comments have truly been helpful.  More people comment on facebook where I post the link than on here, and that is fine.  I love all the comments just the same.  But I will be able to save the comments on the blog forever, so I’d love the comments EVEN more if they were on here.

I love you, readers.  All 6 of you.  🙂

still bloggin,
~C~

oh, the things you say

Theo’s vocab is blowing up every day.  There are things he says that I don’t understand, but many more that I do.  I’ve been trying to remember his first real words, and not just da-da-da-da, because it was more of a sound than a word back then.  The first things I remember him really saying unprompted were “moo” and “shoe,” which sounded more like “oooh” and “tsoo.”  Here’s the list of things I can think of off the top of my head that he’s saying now.

see the boo boo on his lip?

moos when he sees a cow
shoe
cow
oinks like a pig when he sees one
hot
coal (cold)
mama
dada
nana
pop
pence (his cousin, Spencer…usually sounds more like “piss”) haha!
cat
woofs like a dog when dogs or puppies are mentioned/seen
hoots like an owl when owls are mentioned or seen
roh-ro (Rocco, the babysitter’s dog)
wawa (water, wagon, waffle)
mick (milk)
nigh-nigh (night night)
bed
bun-bun (stuffed bunny)
poe (pillow)
boo (boo, blue)
bye bye
huh
poo (poop)
pee
bi-pah or sometimes pie-pah (diaper)
bath
ball
cup
cone (corn)
eat
pay (plate)
boon (spoon)
key-key (cookie)
ka-kah (cracker)
Deh-dur (Dexter)
Dex
step
stick
chirps when he sees a bird
six
one
hoe (home)
eh (egg)
cake (cake, pancake)
choo choo
train
cah (car)
mih-mee (Mickey)
chun (Chuggington)
book
key
buh-bow (bubbles)
cheesh (cheese)
mess
sit
buh (bug)
pa or pa-pa (pacifier)
wall
hi
bock (block)
ow/ouch
boo boo
knee
done
down
toe
han (hand)
tee (teeth)
no (nose)
no-no
ee (ear)
eye
hay (hair, head)
doh (door)
truck
cock (clock! I swear!)
shuwt (shirt)
tra-tah (tractor)
bi (bike, motorcycle)
yay
cap (clap)
moon
sun
stah (star)
ray (red)
nana (banana)
gape (grape)
mo’ (more)
peas
bee
ssss (snake, Sylvie – our cat)
rog (frog)
thanks
sah-lee (Sally)
doc
shishy (fishy)
and finally, the occasional s-bomb…shet… (we may need to clean up our language now…could be worse, right?)

He has words for belly, belly button, bagel, walk, circle, mailbox, camera and other words that I can’t think of how he pronounces them.  I’m sure there are more that I’m forgetting.  If there aren’t more today, there will be by tomorrow.  I love watching him learn and make connections at this age.  It’s so much fun and really cute how he whispers new words when he is trying them out on his tongue. 

What do you think?  Is he talking a lot for a 17 month old or is this pretty typical?

~C~