Mommy Day

For my first Mommy Day, got the best gift ever: Basti was sitting on my lap facing me, he gave me a toothy grin, opened his arms and gave me a belly hug, resting his head on my chest.  <3 <3 <3

And how could I deny him bee PJs?!?

Stuffing an omelet into his mouth.

Maja watching Basti roll around.

Poppy is in South Africa for a trade show, 10 day trip.  I think this is the longest we have been on our own.  Poppy made a couple of videos of himself reading Basti's favorite books (more like our favorite books to read to him).   When I play them for Basti he smiles big and Maja comes into the room wondering where Poppy is.

Everybody look at the camera!

Maja as a foot rest.

Let's go!

Good morning!

I get some (ok, a lot) of anxiety going out with Basti.  I worry he is going to explode in public...  which I guess is silly because he hasn't done that once (did I just jinx myself?).  The expectation of him exploding?  Or me getting all flustered not knowing what to do?  Or worried others are judging my mommy skills?  AGH.  Who knows.  So my goal for this weekend was to go out to eat with Basti.  And so our first date was to my favorite Vietnamese restaurant (which I frequent once a week).  The owner lady was so happy to see Basti, she gave him a plate of orange and cucumber slices.  He also got to play with rice noodles.

Lunch outing.

Sometimes I let Basti roll around on the carpet...  and then I hear him giggle, and I catch Maja giving him kisses.  Tsk tsk. 

Dynamic Duo

This morning I took the kids to the nearby park for a short hike.  Later at home, I noticed Maja had something on her lip, I thought it was food stuck to her fur.  But on closer inspection, it was a tick!  AAAHHH!!!  I'd never dealt with one before so I panic for a moment (P is the in-house dog expert but it's night time in SA).  And then I checked online what to do with a tick.  Thank goodness for internet.  Simple instructions, I got tweezers, rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, and a little container with a lid.  Got the tick out and kept safe in the container, lesion seems ok and clean.  Will be monitoring the lesion to make sure it doesn't get infected.  Checked Maja all over for ticks just in case, didn't find any.

On our second date, I took Basti out to dinner to celebrate Mommy Day.  At the restaurant we saw Susana, baby from our Birthing Class Mommy group! Susana kept sneaking looks at Basti from her table, so her Mommy started calling him her boyfriend.  Hee hee.

Susana and Basti

Basti & Mommy

We had lamb chops and green beans, both of which Basti really enjoyed.  And for dessert Fuji apple sorbet, a tad too sweet for me.  I gave Basti a taste, after getting used to the unusual cold feeling, he was clamoring for more.  Oops.

Basti likes green beans.

We bought a house...  and we get the keys tomorrow!  There will be a few updates we will be doing to the house before we move in (at least I hope they're done before):

- Building a fence around the whole backyard to keep Maja safe

- Painting the whole interior of the house

- Changing floors to hardwood in the main living areas, carpet in the bedrooms

- Installing AC

With all this activity, me being the house project manager...  I have finally decided to take a sabbatical from work.  Took a lot of hemming and hawing, weighing pros and cons, etc etc etc.  But I need my sanity and Basti needs a sane Mommy.  For Summer months June/July, Basti will only be going to school 3 mornings a week.  The rest of the time we will be adventuring together!  YEY!

9 Month Basti

Basti turned 9 months old this week.  YEY!  And he had his 9 month well-baby check-up:
- Weight: 18 pounds 11.5 ounces
- Length: 27 inches, which is shorter than a few weeks ago.  Very unlikely he shrank.
- Head circumference: 45 cm

Basti's poop consistency changed about a month ago.  He doesn't get the bubbly explosions anymore.  Now his face turns red or he cries out as he produces little quenelles.  They are stinkier, but at least not explosive and runny.  Also, when he does poop he often gets a bit of diaper rash between his butt cheeks, irritation from the new foods going through his system.  Doc said to give Basti water with his meals to make sure his poop stays soft.  And definitely up the water intake a bit on hot days, of which we have had several.

Of course, we discussed ECZEMA.  I told the Doc I had been on the elimination diet for 3 weeks with no visible improvement on Basti's rash.  So Doc said, "Ok, you tried it, now you can eat normal again."  From his experience, Basti's eczema is very mild and doesn't seem to bother him much.  It doesn't bother me either, but it does drive me nuts when other people comment on the rash and feel sorry for him.

A week or so ago, I asked a doctor friend to send me medical articles on baby eczema.  After sifting through the many many articles he sent, I found that there have been studies done with breastfeeding moms doing elimination diets and resulting in insignificant improvement on baby eczema.

SO...  I ate TWO chocolate chip cookies today.  And WOW were they good.

Basti's top two front teeth are about to make their appearance...  can see the white just a bit.

Of course, as soon as we leave the doctor's office, Basti starts coughing.  At first I thought it was just random coughing.  But then it was more frequent and forceful by night time.  Oy.  Is it the dry heat?  Friday morning he was at school and I asked his teacher if she noticed any coughing but she said no.  Hmmm...  but he has been coughing quite a bit all day, and it sometimes wakes him from sleep.  Continue to monitor the situation.

This morning when I went to get Basti out of his crib from his nap, I was SHOCKed to see him sitting!  He has figured out how to sit up on his own.  WOW!  During the day he showed us his new skill several times.

And this afternoon, Poppy was playing with Basti and got him to stand up!  WHAT?!?  Basti stood up on his own holding on to Poppy's shirt.   So many new developments!

Signed up Basti for Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) class, starting second week of June.  Yey fun!  Already got his swim diapers on order too.

It's allergy season...  which means runny nose, itchy eyes, and crazy sneezing for me.  And this year I've had massive nose bleeds, sometimes at 4 am when Basti wakes up.  And my nose is very dry and irritated.  Got a saline nose spray but doesn't seem to be doing much.  Tomorrow the temps are expected to cool off, with potential rain on Monday...  keeping my fingers crossed!