What a low-key day

After last weekend's heat wave, I was surprised to wake up and find it was raining. It stopped earlier today but has remained gray and cool.

I haven't done much at all. Earlier I put Peapod in the swing for a while and did some cleaning. I took a shower and she screamed the whole time, so I didn't comb my hair after and it's all goofy now. I also didn't get dressed, so I'm still in my robe at 3:38 pm. We took a nap, and then I got up and talked to the State Farm agent who wanted to know everything ever about my medical history. Then we read some books. We've also nursed a whole bunch and tried to resolve some banking issues (I can't log on to the account that all our money is in). I uploaded a few pictures to Flickr, ate lunch... yeah, there's pretty much nothing going on. I feel bad about it, actually. I woke up this morning with big plans to go to Home Depot and look at bricks and pavers for the yard, but one thing sort of happened after another and I'm still in my robe. Yeah. At least we have dinner plans, so I HAVE to get off my ass.

She's been napping and nursing pretty much all day, so I guess you could say that I've been nurturing my kid. One point for me.

Tummy time

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Originally uploaded by countmockula

Grandma's almost home, but here's pic of the day for her.

All right, I admit it...

I watched American Idol. Not religiously -- I almost never watched the results shows. But I even watched while in the hospital (hey, I had to go back to my room to pump milk!). Anyway, I hated Ramiele and thought she hung around too long. I never "got" Syesha. I had a creepy Mrs. Robinson crush on Jason. I liked Carly and was surprised when she left. I absolutely hated David Archuleta, and I was sure he was going to win, especially after the judges' comments Tuesday night. He just struck me as smarmy. I hated how he butchered "Imagine" and "We Can Work it Out." So I'm glad the other David won. Do I think he's great? No, and I don't think the winning song is a good one, but at least he's a rock dude. So... yay.

In other news, I read Zadie seven books today as she happily stared at them, cooed, and kicked her legs. I think she likes reading! Oh, and just to warn you -- I'm a little emotional anyway, but don't read "Guess How Much I Love You" or "The Runaway Bunny" if you're feeling vulnerable.

Baby news & body no-news

She gained 6 ounces this week. For those not obsessed with baby weight charts, that's very good and reassuring.

I'm a little tired of my big new body. I think it's going to be challenging to lose weight. First, I can't restrict my calories too much because I'm breastfeeding. Second, although I'm walking a lot, it's going to be difficult to get back to the gym. She's still in the habit of screaming whenever I leave, so if I went and worked out for an hour, that'd mean an hour of screaming for Sweetie. Finally, my booby drugs from Vanuatu, Domperidone, tend to make it harder to lose weight. I'm not beating myself up over it or anything, but it would be nice to wear something other than the same 6 elastic-waist-banded items. I'm going to try, despite the challenges. I walked 3 miles on Tuesday and I'm going walking again in a few minutes. And of course, I walk while wearing a now-nine pound baby. That's gotta add something, right?

I'm not smart

Bloodsource called me the other day to ask if I could donate blood. I said yes and made my appointment for this afternoon. Because the baby is always calm and quiet in the sling or while nursing, I figured I could just sling her and sit in the chair like that.

Apparently, that is against regulations -- she can't be in the chair at all. Well, not in Mama's arms is rather a different story with this girl. Not in Mama's arms = hissyfit of massive proportions. So she went ahead and had a hissyfit the entire time I was giving blood and various members of Bloodsource's staff tried vainly to comfort her. The absolute second I was done, I held her and she was fine. Silly me.

In other news, she gained almost 6 ounces this week! Hooray! I am distinctly less worried now. She's over 9 pounds finally.

Hey, you wanna hear something stupid? Have you ever seen the women walking through Target with their car seats up on the handles? I had NO IDEA how you did that. Did they latch on? Did you have to find a special cart? Well, I finally figured it out today -- they just sit up there. You just plop 'em in. Who knew?

I made fresh strawberry ice cream with farmer's market strawberries yesterday, so I'm going to go have some. (Although I DO love the Chubby Hubby I bought -- why has no one ever told me how incredible Chubby Hubby is?)

Suzanne's anti-Sex and the City meme

I never watched SATC, because I didn't have HBO. I think the few times I saw it I enjoyed it (I LOVE Chris from Northern Exposure, and one episode I saw had him on it!). I also enjoy a Cosmo now and again. But I did enjoy doing this meme!



"So, as the Sex and the City Movie comes to theaters near you and there is no escape from its press coverage, I present a meme for feisty, spirited women who share our lives and support one another, yet are also slovenly and/or miserly (or is it practical?):"

What's the cheapest pair of shoes you own?: I have a couple pairs of really cheap shoes. The current winner may be a $9 red gingham wedge from Payless.

What's your favorite piece of jewelry, if you own any?: Oh, I love my jewelry. It's almost all costume stuff. For sheer looks, I love my Jabberwock brooch, a scary-looking monster with a red eye! For sentiment, I love my engagement ring, which my great-grandma won in a raffle in Chico and gave to me when I was little. I'm also crazy about my Pandora charm bracelet. I wouldn't normally be a charm bracelet person, but everyone in my husband's family has one, and they bought one for me because I'm part of the family now. Isn't that nice? I wear it every day.

What's your favorite t-shirt?: Probably a tie between David Bowie, Bettie Page, and a Paul Frank tee.


If you could wear jeans every day, would you? No, because I'm a sucker for my vintage dresses. But there is nothing like a pair of well-fitting worn in Levis, is there? I don't have a pair like that right now, because I'm about 40 pounds over my preferred weight.

Do you comb your hair every day? No. It's grown out into a weird style that looks better curly than straight. Combing de-curlies it.

Eight weeks is two months!

Holy cow... almost everyone we meet tells us to savor this time, because they grow so fast, and I think we already have a taste of that.

Here is Zadie at birth:

Here she is today:


The second day:


Last week:


Then: She wouldn't be put down in the crib, and we spent miserable nights trying to make it work.
Now: We gave up and bought a co-sleeper and all three of us sleep well most of the time.

Then: We weren't able to breastfeed at all at first, then we managed it but had latch problems and used a shield.
Now: She's a latch-a-holic. She can latch upside-down, half-asleep, without my help...

Then: She slept almost all the time.
Now: She's awake for long periods, and can smile, coo, and as of Sunday, laugh. She also seems to respond to her name.

Then: She was born with a full head of dark, surprisingly curly hair.
Now: It has fallen out in male-pattern-baldness style, and she loses more all the time. It also looks lighter.

Then: Her eyes were dark, dark blue.
Now: They lightened up to a lighter blue and are gradually becoming shot through with a greeny-brown.

Then: We said "Hey, it almost looks like she's trying to do something with her hands!"
Now: She can purposely suck on her hand.

Then: We loved her immensely.
Now: That one hasn't changed a bit.

She knows her name

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Originally uploaded by countmockula

Seriously, she smiles almost every single time I say "Your name is Azadeh" or "Your name is Zadie." I even threw in a control at the end... for science.

Left turns

Attention all California drivers: 21801. (a) The driver of a vehicle intending to turn to the left or to complete a U-turn upon a highway, or to turn left into public or private property, or an alley, shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles approaching from the opposite direction which are close enough to constitute a hazard at any time during the turning movement, and shall continue to yield the right-of-way to the approaching vehicles until the left turn or U-turn can be made with reasonable safety.


That means, you CAN'T TURN LEFT in front of me if the light just turned green. You have to wait.

The hotel

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Originally uploaded by countmockula

Say, Count, how did you skin your knee?
On the bedding.
Wait, what? Did you have it on the floor and go skidding into home plate?
No.
Were you doing something naughty?
No.
Well how do you skin your knee on a blanket?
Just by crawling over it... if it's made of SANDPAPER!

Yes, the comforter (which was of no comfort) was made of sandpaper and the blanket was made of fiberglass. Unusual choices, really. I have an image in my head of the buyer for the hotel at a big textile warehouse going "Wool? Not itchy enough. Hairshirt? Has possibilities. Barbed wire? Too obvious..."

Besides Zadie's unusual sleep habits, we were also disturbed by the guy next door who listened to CNN at full volume until 5:30 am. Oh, and the fact that we were adjacent to the elevators.

We also managed to knock the headboard off the wall only to discover, when we tried to hang it back up, that the hangy-thing was already broken (i.e. we COULD have broken it, but the broken-off piece was missing, so it was clearly already broken and sort of hanging on there half-assed).

Aside from all that it was okay, and it was centrally located. Still, I think next time we'll be back at the Sunset Inn.

We are home safely

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Originally uploaded by countmockula

That's my new hat. In the background is one of the natural bridges our favorite beach is named for. This was Zadie's first trip to the beach ever! We touched her feet to the sand but didn't try the ocean water after the pool incident.

Friday

For breakfast, we walked to the Walnut Avenue Cafe, one of our favorite breakfast joints down here. The hostess was really nice, and because it was a weekday morning it was quiet, and most of the other customers were regulars on their way to work, parents with older children dressed for school, etc. We walked back to the hotel so Sweetie could get to his conference.

I decided to put off taking Zadie to the beach for the first time until Sweetie could be with us. I had an ulterior motive, though: I wanted to shop. Sweetie's idea of shopping is jogging through the streets, passing almost every establishment, encouraging me to go look in when I look at someplace REALLY longingly, and then standing outside tapping his foot until I come out. So I decided that since he was in a conference all day, I'd go downtown by myself! The baby and I sat around for a little while, since nothing opens until 10:30, but at around ten we walked downtown. I went in every shop that pleased me, and I bought many little trinkets, including a new sun hat and new shoes (more on them later).

Sweetie's conference broke for lunch at 12:30, so I went back to the hotel to meet him and two colleagues and they snagged an extra bag lunch and we all sat in the park nearby and ate. Then we went inside to show the baby off a bit, and finally they went back to their conference and I went to the pool. I just sat on the edge and tried to read, but there were four students who came over and fawned over the baby (can't blame 'em) and a really talkative woman, so I didn't get much reading done. I was trying to make sure Zadie didn't get too warm, so I was occasionally wetting her scalp a little with pool water or sprinkling some on her chest. She was fine with that, but then at one point I got her out of the sling and dipped her feet in the water. The face she made is one I'll never forget -- her mouth opened into a gigantic square, her eyes widened, and she stared at me in utter shock and horror for a moment before starting to cry. Okay, no feet in the pool, then.

Sweetie's conference was only about an hour and a half after lunch, so then we dinked around at the hotel for a while and finally went to dinner at Thai House, a gaudily decorated place around the corner. Our meal was pretty tasty, but his was actually hot while I think the waitress must have misheard my "please make mine spicy, too" as "please make mine not spicy at all." After that, we walked downtown again to 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, a place mathematically inclined towards making people alcoholics (seriously, there's a wall of fame for people who have gotten through all 99 beers 25 times -- we actually did the math). I had heard they had a banana lambic and Sweetie loves banana stuff, Unfortunately, they didn't, so we both had cherry lambics instead. Funny picture to follow of Zadie passed out in my lap with the 99 Bottles menu.

Then we returned to the hotel and watched bad TV and played on the internet until bed, where we slept until 2, because Miss Fussface decided it was morning. After like 4 straight hours of fussing and nursing and kicking and happy noises, she tooted loudly about four times, so I'm thinking it was a gas thing.

This morning we checked out and are at Badass Coffee, where we got a great cup yesterday. We came back for free wi-fi and a light breakfast.

A few notes: the Pack and Play is much easier to UNpack and play. I still do not know how the rectangular mattress is supposed to fit in the oval bassinet. Square peg, round hole. It doesn't work.

The shoes I bought are red Crocs (I know, I know). They're Mary Janes, and the style is called "Alice" (how perfect, right?). They are very comfortable for the first ten minutes or so, but then the little nubbies on the sole that start as massagers become pointy stabbers of death.

If you happen to be lecherous and in need of a vacation, may I recommend Santa Cruz? Apparently in the heat, the women start running around in nothing but beach cover-ups and really tiny miniskirts. I've been damn near flashed a couple times. One woman's outfit blew against her in the wind and revealed ALL. I've seen women better covered by lingerie.

Okay, Sweetie is looking over my shoulder like "Are you done yet?" So I guess I will be. Beach next, and more later today, probably with pictures (that is, if I don't fall dead asleep the minute we get home).

Saturn Cafe

This was Zadie's first trip to Saturn Cafe, our favorite funky vegetarian cafe in Santa Cruz. I had the "Space Cowboy," which is essentially a Western Bacon Cheeseburger only with fake meat. We shared the spicy sampler appetizer, which comes with two tiny fake buffalo wings, garlic fries, chips, salsa, and DELICIOUS jalapeno buttons (beer-battered fried jalapeno rings.



Des, just for you I took a picture of the bathrooms. They're not gendered, so you have to choose whether you are a robot or an alien.