First Tantrum....must be an instinct

Elle has never seen a tantrum, but she knows how to throw one! I took my cell phone away from her yesterday and she flung herself on the ground, face buried in hands and kicked her feet. She simultaneously screamed. Good work kid.

Swimming Swimming in the Swimming Pool

Elle is a water bug! She loves the swimming pool. She likes to be face down supported only under her belly. She likes her hands free to splash and she likes to put her face in the water. She LOVES to put her face in the water.

I make her wear a hat in the pool. I hope the other babies don't laugh at her but I want to protect her little scalp.

I also make her wear super sunblock. I tried to buy the Target baby sunblock and it burned our eyes and that sucked. Yes, I said sucked because it did. It was awful. After that I got worried about what kind of chemicals burn eyes...so I went to the Environmental Working Group's best sunscreen list. I found a sunscreen that did not have a lot of questionable chemicals and conveniently enough, it does not burn eyes! I bought UV Natural Baby on Amazon and have been very happy with it. It leaves a whitish residue on her head in her hair...but it does not drip, it stays on in the pool and it does not burn or make her gag. It was expensive. But this is one thing I will splurge on.

Sleeping is for babies

Elle is not a baby. She is a big girl. She does not want to sleep more than 3 hours at a time at night. This is no fun for mama. Mama getting crazy.

Elle ate 8 full oz of breastmilk/formula combo last night...and was up to eat again in only 3 hours!!!! She did not eat much in the middle of the night, but she ate.

Honest Kudos to the Simelac people...not a paid advertisement

I got Simelac formula from the hospital. As I lament regularly, I can no longer exclusively breast feed Elle. I was so open to formula on day one, but by month 5 I was so accostomed to whipping out a booba that I could not fathom doing anything else.

Because of the breast feeding, I had NO IDEA how much my kid ate at every nursing session. I could not have even guessed accurately. I could take a guess, but not accurately. Because of this, I did not know how much formula to make at night for Elle.

I called Simelac and asked. They were really nice. For a 7 to 9 month old, the average consumption is 7-8 oz of breast milk or formula 3-5 times a day...better bust out the big bottles Mama!

Beef...it's what's for dinner

It is hot hot hot this summer... Last night I cooked a brisket in the crock pot over night with tons of veggies. Sliced thin it is good for sandwiches, or just warm in the microwave is good eating also. It was also an opportunity to introduce beef to Elle's diet.

I cut a piece of beef without fat...threw it in the magic bullet for a spin (to chop the beef first because I figured it was tough) and then added some boiled carrots and apples and let her whirl...It was a bit thick...so I divided it into a few portions and added a little milk of the boobie to tonight's portion. She ate it. Mmmmm protein and iron!

She is getting a bigger appetitie. Tonight, even after meat, veggies, fruit and 10 cheerios...she still had about 8 oz of boobie milk/formula at bedtime! Monster baby is hungry!

The pediatrician said we could introduce anything in the meat family after her 6 month check up. I was a little slow getting them done...but we are going to start now. We do not eat much chicken in our house...and we buy beef by the quarter cow from a local farm...so Elle's diet may be a bit restricted for the time being! I am sure she will be introduced to chicken nuggets at a birthday party soon enough.

Not the picture of mental health

Elle is napping. She does not usually nap long, but today I skipped her morning nap because it was "graduation day" at moms & tots. Soooo cute! She got a certificate and presents!

Now to the sick part. I decided since she was napping I would try to wax my legs. I could just shave every day except I can't because it takes too long and I am super neurotic about leaving her alone while I am in the shower for an extended period. What if she cries? And I really can't bear to pull myself out of bed at 4 am to make sure Mr. Bishop is still home and she is still sleeping. So my choices are, be hairy or wax on the long nap day. I choose poorly. My leg hurts. I need a professional. So now I have one half of a leg that looks silky smooth and pocked with red blotches and one and a half legs that look like Sasquatch. Awesome.

The busier she gets...

The busier Elle gets, the harder it is for me to form a sentence! Eeepp...

She has started pulling her hair when she is tired. Is that weird?

going through changes...

Someone is going through a growth spurt...or a torture mommy spurt. It is 5pm and Elle just laid down for her 3 o'clock nap....yeah, rough day. She was a wild woman today. I left the gate down from the living room to the stairs today to see what would happen. In 20 seconds flat she had traveled the 20 feet and was standing at the first step with her hands on the second step. She was trying to figure out what to do next. So I scooped that baby right up and bolted the gate back in place. I now have 4 gates permanently up in this old house. I need a couple more. I don't think that builders cared about babies in 1920....

cruel joke

It is a cruel joke of pregnancy...while I was pregnant my boobs looked great! Bam, biggidy bam! Big and in the right spot. The rest of my body looked a bit puffy...but the boobs, BAM! Now, I am starting to look a little more like me everywhere else...except the boobs...wha wha whhhhaaaa.....

I think Elle will like me regardless...until she turns 16 and nothing I do is right anyway. Which brings me to my next thought: I have a few tattoos...I am going to get tons more so that she rebels against me by NOT getting tattoos on her perfect skin...do you think it will work??

Do they know THAT is dangerous????

Now that Elle is fully mobile, she seems to have a sixth sense of what is dangerous and what is safe. She chooses danger every time! This morning I became convinced she wants to be an electrician. No matter where I put her down, no matter what room or what part of the room she can find the outlets, wires, phone jacks, surge protectors, and cords within a second. Her particular method of learning about electronics involves tasting various parts...so I have removed, taped, covered and baby proofed most of the floor boards in my house.

Yesterday I thought she had some plumbing aptitude. No matter where I set her down she went right for the radiator pipes. Her great grandfather was a steam fitter and would be proud that she can trace any radiator pipe with her hands to find where it hits the floor or where a valve appears. I don't know if he would be so proud that she can achieve the same task by chewing on the radiator. So for the summer, there is furniture planted in front of every radiator.

Confirmation of spoon loathing

Yesterday Elle ate pieces of grapes by herself. Skinned, diced into tiny pieces and deliciously slimy. Tonight she had cheerios and bananas all tiny, smashable and delicious. Today she had a piece of skinned apple in the safe feeder. I can't justify forcing the spoon anymore. I just need to figure out how to get yummy stuff onto her tray.

Elle just doesn't like spoon food

For a while Elle would eat whatever I smashed for her, but lately she has rejected the spoon. I thought my cooking was bad, so I tried to go back to some old favorites (avocado, peaches). Apparently it is not my puree skills but the spoon itself. She is more than happy to eat what I am eating off my utensil. She is more than happy to feed herself little tiny pieces of stuff. However she does not like to eat her food off her spoon from her dish.

I wonder if she is too young to self feed? I put little pieces of food on her tray and she gets most of them into her mouth. It is very cute to watch her delicately pick up each item and diligently get it into her mouth. I supervise the whole operation because it is terrifying to me!

Is it wrong...

I would not mind if my kid was a nerd. A geek. Whatever. I was talking to a colleague yesterday and her son is in the band and the bag pipe band and just won a "German" prize for some nerd fair where you go and speak a foreign language in competition! I love it! Given her genetic code, Elle may be a bit nerdy...but that is something to strive for!

First road trip!!

No big news...my kid slept the whole time! It was fun for mommy!

If you like it then you should put a ring on it...

All the single babies!!!!
Put your hands up!!!


The best toy and tool combo I have ever bought are these rings. I originally bought one package of them at Target for about $4. I use them to link Elle's binkey to her carrier or car seat (we like it so we put some rings on it). I use them to link toys to her stroller or carrier (we like toys so we put a ring on them). I use it to string toys together and drag them across the room like a crazy toy chain gang (we like to chase toys...so we put some rings on them!). Oh Oh Ohhh Oh Oh Oh...

Anything that is not secured with rings outside the house is most likely going to be lost. That is no fun. Because I am a little germ crazy, we only bring hard toys out of the house so they can be washed easily. These rings are the best. They go right into the dishwasher basket when we come home. Because I am relatively happy with their cleanliness, Elle chews on them uninhibited by her mean old mommy....and when she likes it, I am sure to put a ring on it!

Winners and Peepers...

I want to say congratulations to the DVD winners posted last night...contact me ASAP so I can send you the winnings!!!


On the Peepers side...I have discovered that Elle's desire to crawl away while I am changing her diaper is just a ploy to pee in new places...

Elle is a biter

Those two bottom teeth are serious business. She bit my arm (left marks) and will bite anything she can get her mouth on. Sometimes if she is not hungry, she bites the nipple. Yes, the nipple. I don't mind so much when she bites the nipple on the bottle....but the alternative is kind of a bummer.

The first time it happened I got shocked. She cried. Then I asked her why she was crying when I was the person on the receiving end of the bite. She looked confused. I get scared sometimes when I am feeding her, but I have found that if I stick to feeding her when she is actually hungry instead of trying to guess, that I don't get bit. I also have found that if she is not hungry, she doesn't go for food...she just wants the binkey. This biting situation has added another layer to the great binkey debate. Sometimes she just wants to soothe and she uses the binkey for that when she is not hungry.

The great binkey debate...

When I was at the pediatrician to look at Elle's heat rash she mentioned off hand that I should stop giving Elle the binkey during the day. (This is the pediatrician I DONT usally see, the vitamin incident pediatrician)

She said that the suck reflex is gone at 3 months and that the binkey is just a habit now. She said I should still give it to her at night up to 1 year because it helps prevent SIDS.

One friend of mine said, "good, take that thing out of her mouth" Another said, "don't worry about that, she will give it up on her own, don't take her soother away now". Round one of the binkey debate begins...am I a bad mom for letting her have it or a bad mom for giving it to her?

Houston, we have lift off

Elle is fully mobile. She crawls. Hello mommy time to get in shape.

I wish I could wrap my kid in bubble wrap...

I would wrap her head to toe with her little face showing like the snowsuit kid in A Christmas Story...This would be a special snowsuit that would protect her from not only physical ailments but also stupid choices and mean people. This snowsuit would make sure she never licked a frozen flagpole. This snowsuit would make the mean boys and girls not be mean to her. This snowsuit would make sure she never skinned her knee or got a rash.

Elle got a rash. I took her to the pediatrician. It is little spots on her back. They were coming and going for a while so I thought it was heat rash and I did not take her to the doctor. Until yesterday, when I thought it was spreading and I freaked out. She had no fever, no more crankiness than normal and was eating fine and pooping fine. But I freaked out anyway. When the doctor came in the room and asked me how I was (she was being polite), I replied, "neurotic".

Doctor said it was heat rash. Take her home and keep her cool and dry.

Involved daddies

Mr. Bishop is an involved dad...he knows his way around the diaper pail. However, financial circumstances take him away from us to work more than we would like....check out this great article on Swedish paternity leave from work (not to mention guaranteed return to work for new moms...what a concept!)

Most people are really nice

So I went to my regular La Leche meeting yesterday. It is a great group of women and I found out some of them even have the same farm share we do...so that is fun. When I told some non La Leche moms that I was going to the group they warned me not to talk about bottles or formula...well, I had to tell my group yesterday about the surgery and what it did to my milk supply.

They were super supportive of everything I have done so far to keep Elle fed. They said my supplementing was fine. They were helpful in telling me how to try to bring back my supply (which is why I told the surgery story) and were supportive overall. Sometimes nice people just make your day.

This is my first week without help in the house (note how I write that like I am affluent and hire people...not like it was my wild and fun family). The incision is tender and does not feel great, so I am trying to take it easy when Mr. Bishop gets home. I think he is tired also. Maybe I should get affluent so I can hire people!

On a side note, I went to Sex and the City 2 with my cousin and her sisters in law and her cousin in law...so fun. Stupid, terrible movie, but there was a little throw out line to the ladies in the cheap seats (that is where we were) when Charlotte said (not a direct quote), 'Being a mom is hard and I have full time help, imagine those women that do it alone'. No Poop Char....we out here...thanks for the recognition now loan me your nanny for a day so I can get my Poop together.

Uh oh, I got the look

It is bad enough that Elle is the stamp, twin, clone of Mr. Bishop. The kid has his hair line (cowlicks and all), his eyes, his face shape...all she got from me are her thighs (*wait until she turns 16 and she can hate me for that too)! Now she also makes faces like him. These particular faces come out when she is mad at me, or when I have caused her some injustice. For example, she was playing this morning and made a large and stinky poopy in her pants. As I began changing her diaper she gave me a face that was a combination of, "you are killing me" and "what kind of idiot are you" and "how could you possibly do this to me". It was like the time I tried to make Mr. Bishop eat salad for dinner and he said, "you don't make friends with salad".

Am I a terrible cook?

Elle goes face first for anything she sees with a wide open mouth....chairs, dogs, toys, grass, sand, shoes...everything...except what I make her for dinner. Anything on the end of a brightly colored spoon has to be coaxed for the first bite.

By the way, my carrot & spinach souffle is delicious. Mr. Bishop and I ate it for dinner also. Maybe it is the spoons that scare her, I could try just putting it on the tray to mash around for a while.

Dear makers of children's sunblock,

Are you stupid?

Why does your product sting the eyes?

I was lucky to have a winter baby so she was 6 months old on her first trip to the beach. I slathered her head to toe in SPF 50 and used the same stuff on myself (gotta protect that skin). Within five minutes Elle and I were both crying because we had touched our eyes! I have tried a couple brands with the same results. Stupid sunblock.


On a barely related note...I was at the beach and I saw a mom putting sun block on a 4 or 5 year old girl. The girl was squirming and saying, "don't mommy, it is gross". The mom appropriately replied, "you have to wear sunblock". However, as soon as she was done with her daughter...while the girl was still standing there...she grabbed a towel and furiously wiped off her hands saying, "I have to get this gross stuff off me". Way to set that positive example!

Win Yo Gabba Gabba DVDs

All you need to do is sign up to follow or post comments. For every comment you post, I will enter your name to win one of the following (unlimited entries for unlimited comments! Tell your friends to sign up and you can get credit for their comments too...just have them tell me who referred them):

Yo Gabba Gabba Birthday Boogie!
Yo Gabba Gabba Meet My Family
Yo Gabba Gabba 3 Songs CD

I will post winners Monday June 14th.

Bottle feeding

I rarely get to give Elle a bottle. But because she is strictly bottle fed right before bed (my supply is too unpredictable for her) I got to give her a bottle last night. She looked at me strait in the eyes with the same love she does when I breast feed her. That made me feel like we are all good...I don't think she even cares that her last feeding is a bottle every day... I think she is just happy and comfy and cozy!

The most controversial subject ever

Since my surgery I have not been able to cuddle with Elle like I like to. So every morning, she cuddles with me in bed because I can't stand not having that special time with her. I don't sleep while she is in bed but she dozes off and on and we talk about her dreams the night before and what we are going to do today. Between my 16 lb kid, one 14 lb dog and one 11 lb dog...I was forced off the bed this morning. They ganged up on me. Between the three of them I was hanging off the edge of the bed while they played!

Farm Fresh Yummy

Elle ate turnips last night! We got a share of a local farm and I expect her diet to expand exponentially over the next few months as we collect our boxes of veggies!

Also, on the good news front...I had my first cup of coffee in over 18 months last night. YUMMMMMMMY!!!!!!! I stopped drinking coffee when I was trying to get pregnant and then was just on a roll for the pregnancy and since I have been nursing. According to LaLeche a cup or so a day should be fine for my little Elle. Actually, I can have a couple cups. I don't think I need to go there yet...but I may! Yummy!

Also, on the great news side my milk production seems to be improving. I am still a little short at night so Elle is still eating a frozen or fresh pumped bottle supplemented with a bit of formula. Maybe the caffeine gave me a boost in production last night! (totally unfounded and unscientific, but a fun idea)