Fig and Thistle

I realized my last post was one of stress and worry, but I felt so much better after blogging.  I’m also amazed by the kind comments and the support from my friends and family.  It makes all the dark moments look like little blips on Life’s radar and not Huge Catastrophes.

I thought I might bring a little yin to that yang of a post and update you on the family:

Patty cake!

In addition to crawling and pulling up, Atticus has really moved from being a “baby” to a “little person.”  His personality shines through.  At the moment he is in teething hell and has a bit of a cold, but despite the pain and the boogers he is his usual cheery self.  He loves playing monsters and banging on things and crawling after the cat.  He’s learned patty-cake, hide’n'seek, and waving bye-bye.  He adores giving kisses (which is an open-mouth, Predator-esque, drool-fest). 

Hope

Hope is growing and changing so quickly.  We’re in the midst of body-changing qualms; everything is fitting awkwardly and nothing looks right.  We have a shopping trip planned this Thursday.  She is still obsessed with Selena Gomez, interior design, and fashion.  Hope has had a phenomenal summer: several movies, the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coke, sleep overs, kid museums, blueberry pickings, outings to Athens, roller skating, bowling, swimming, and even a trip with her friend Sara to the nail salon.  She is really blossoming into a young lady and is looking forward to middle school.

Sam

Sam is still drawing like mad.  He did an awesome robot chalkboard for Inman Perk and painted a spectacular owl mural at Atticus’ daycare.  His current projects include painting skateboard decks and planning an art show next spring.  You can keep up with his arty endeavors on his blog, Inky Darcy on the Lamb.

Despite our busy lives as parents, employees, and introverted nerds, we’ve had some amazing times this summer.  Primarily our dates center around nerd movies (Green Lantern – bleh, Captain America – yay) and coffee.  We also have a new tradition of going to bed early and watching awful shows on Netflix (like Hoarders).  Typically you’ll find me knitting and Sam complaining about idiot; I love that we’re already curmudgeonly old people!

When Atticus was a little over a month old, we discovered that he has a dairy protein  intolerance.  Keep in mind this is not lactose intolerance; a lactose intolerance concerns milk sugars.  A dairy intolerance simply means that his digestive system cannot not breakdown dairy’s complex proteins.  As a result, the dairy proteins buildt up in his system leading to gas, constipation, and colic.  His little belly was hard and distended and every fart was accompanied with squeals of pain.  So, I gave up dairy and within a week Atticus was a happy little babe once again. 

In my research I discovered that this doesn’t mean that Atticus will always have problems with dairy.  Most babies outgrow the problem by the time they are 6 – 18 months old.

Beginning back in April — when Atticus hit 6 months — I started adding in dairy gradually.  I started with a piece of bread with butter and then I waited several days.  As I slowly reintroduced dairy into my diet I monitored his diapers and gassiness and was on the lookout for colic.  He had no problems.  Finally has of July 1st, I had worked up to 3 servings of dairy a day (3 actual servings, not huge portions).  The weekend of July 16th I decided he was over his dairy issues and went whole hog.

It started at a bridal shower: the appetizers all had bits of cheese, the salad had creamy salad dressing, the pasta had feta, the bread slathered in butter, and ice cream cake for dessert.  And Atticus appeared fine.  Yay!  Dairy!

And the things went awful.  Starting on Tuesday night (07/19) he was grumpy and it was downhill from there.  He woke up screaming in pain, his tummy was tight again, and dear god the gas was AWFUL.  In fact, for a few days we rechristened him Farticus.  As of  last Wednesday I have been totally dairy free and Atticus is much, much better. 

I can’t tell you how much I beat myself up over this.  I felt like I rushed the dairy reintroduction and I feel like my desire to have cream in my coffee and a bit of ice cream trumped my baby’s health.  Intellectually, I know that the only way I could know if he is over the dairy intolerance is by testing and I know I took things reasonably slow; but my heart hurt to see him so sad and miserable. 

I’m planning on extended breastfeeding and child-lead weaning, but I am going to begin introducing soy milk when he is a year old.  No more dairy experimentation for me! 

Also, the little man is 9 months old today and STILL ISN”T SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT.  He is eating solids, and has a good schedule and goes to bed fine, but he wakes up 2-5 times a night (mostly to eat).  I’m tired, but I know that one day Atticus will sleep and one day I will know what it is like to have a full night’s sleep. 

I’m increasingly frustrated with people telling me that I should let Atticus cry it out.  People say that I spoil him by going to him when he cries and they have this smugness that accompanies said comments.  I’ve even had folks say I should stop nursing on demand.  They say “Atticus cries because he thinks someone is going to come in there every time”.  Do they hear what they’re saying???!!!   A baby — with no communication skills other than crying — cries at night and I should let him lay there alone, in the dark, with no ability to understand that mom and dad are in the other room and its bedtime.  All he knows is that no one is there and he is all alone.  I cannot fathom this cruelty.  I don’t think that Atticus is manipulative — he isn’t out to see that I have no sleep.  He simply wants to be cuddled and comforted.  How can it be bad that my child knows that NO MATTER WHAT mom and dad are there  to love him?!  Parenting is 24/7 , not only between the hours of 6am and 8pm. 

So all of this mom stress is also compounded by the fact that I’m going out-of-town to a wedding in Memphis.  I only had enough money for one plane ticket so I’m going alone and Atticus is staying home with Dad and Hope.  I’m so paranoid that he will need me and I won’t be there and he has never gone this long without breastfeeding.  I’m also going to have to pump every 3 to 4 hours to keep up my milk supply and I haven’t quite figured out how I’m going to accomplish pumping amidst all the wedding activities and storing all of the milk.  I’m so so so nervous.

Throw all of this in a big ol’ stress soup pot and add-in car repairs and real worry over bills.  I honestly don’t know if we will have groceries next week because the rent is due and between car repairs and the plane ticket Sam and I are flat-ass broke.  Oh, and Hope starts middle school on August 8th and she has no clothes that fit. 

Oh, and did I mention I have a stomach virus?  Yup.  Yesterday at work I was hit with chills and queasiness.  Needless to say I spent most of the day on the “throne” reading a novel about Queen Elizabeth I (ironically enough).  Today I’ve managed to keep down toast and 1 cup of plain noodles.  Fingers crossed that no one else gets this….

I’m sorry this is such a whiny post, but I feel better letting it all out.  Things will work out and of course there has been good mixed in with the stress.  I had a nice date with Sam last Saturday, the kids are lovable, and the books I’m reading are fabulous. 

Alright, time for some more mint tea!

Finally — I have a functioning computer.  I’ve been without a home computer for nearly two weeks.  We’ve also had some other drama going on at home; Atticus has SEVERE separation anxiety.  But, of course, that’s an entirely different post.  Let’s just say that blogging has been nigh impossible at chez Roper.

Although I missed Anita Brookner day, I still wanted to post my thoughts on Hotel du Lac.  This is my first Brookner book.  I’ve always intended to read something by Brookner, but I think I was daunted by the number of books.  I didn’t know where to start.  I picked Hotel du Lac because it was a Booker winner.

Hotel du Lac is what I would call a quiet novel.  There is a plot, but the strength of the book lies in the characters’ unspoken thoughts, observations, and motivations.  The novel begins with Edith Hope — a famed romance novelist — settling in to a Swiss hotel after a socially embarrassing incident.  The hotel is sparsely peopled, but the handful of hotel residents fuel the humor, emotion, and, of course, move along the plot.

This slim volume — under 200 pages — clips along at a nice pace,the wit is sharp, and the characters are intriguing…. but…… I wouldn’t say I like it.  I think I certainly like Brookner’s writing.  She seems to be a sort of darker Barbara Pym with bits of Elizabeth Taylor cooked in and a dash of Iris Murdoch; you know, quintessentially British and witty, but with darker emotions and an elegiac tone.  Of course, I’m basing my assessment of Brookner’s writing style from one book and I should really read all of them before I start making author-recipes.  I simply didn’t care for any of the characters;  Edith Hope seems cold and I have a difficult time sympathizing her situation and all the other characters are obnoxious, shallow, and/or calculating.

For all my character dislikes, I simply cannot stop raving over the writing.  In addition to great dialogue and some marvelous descriptive passages, I found myself really loving the phrases that seemed to pop-out .  For example, the hotel corridor is described as being “vibrant with absence” (pg.13).  I remember pausing my reading to mull over that phrase.  It is such an apt description of that sensation that strikes out with emptiness when one is in a typically bustling place.  I can certainly say that the academic library I work at is vibrant with absence in the summer months!

So yes, certainly more Brookner in my future.  I’m planning on visiting the other Brookner posts to decide on which novel to read next!  Thanks Thomas and Simon for hosting International Anita Brookner Day!

Sorry the blog is so quiet.  My computer is dead, dead, dead.  My wonderful computer-geek brother is sprucing up one of his old laptops for me, but it is still in the works.  I should be back to blogging next week.  Fingers crossed!

My computer is utterly broken and I’m waiting to get a “new” to me laptop from my little brother.  Apparently my old laptop was laughably antiquated.  This means piece-meal posts for a bit on work breaks and borrowed computers.  I haven’t really missed access to a computer because my weekend was so wonderfully perfect and full.  July certainly has started out with a bang.  This fourth of July weekend:

• The family went to a birthday party at the local sprayground.  Eli is certainly an adorable one-year-old and I look forward to the many adventures of Atticus and Eli that are sure to pepper the future.
• Afterwards my good friend Catherine and her adorable little girl came over for a visit.
• The evening concluded with watching Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and I loved it.
• On Saturday I took Hope blueberry picking with our friends Heath and Caroline and Catherine and Zoe came as well.  We also hit up the Athens Farmer’s Market and the Grit for some delicious food.
• Sunday was spent cleaning the house (not exciting, but totally necessary)
• Sunday afternoon Sam and I escaped for a few hours.  He drew and I hung out with my friends Shannon and Naomi and did a little reading.
• I started two phenomenal books this weekend– Margaret George’s Elizabeth the I: a Novel and The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett.
• Yesterday, we visited my grandparents and I got to show off my adorable kids.
• Finally, last night we had our friends Shannon, Heath, and Caroline over for a cookout.

It was a perfect weekend and I have a feeling July will be a very good month.  Family, friends, time outdoors, reading…. I couldn’t ask for a better start to the month.

Brief post to discuss my reading challenge progress.  Click here, if you’d like to see the books I’ve tentatively chosen for challenges; for most of the challenges (excepting Off the Shelf, Support Your Local Library, and Chunkster) the completed books are noted.

Off the Shelf:

• Goal:  Read 30 books I own
• Completed:  5 books (16.67%)