We were at the playplace today and while the kids were playing (less than 10 spread among 4 parties) one of the dads chatted me up trying to figure out where he recognized me from (Answer? Nowhere). His wife walked over and we were making typical parent playground smalltalk for a couple of minutes. When I did my routine child inventory, Orion was four feet behind me HUGGING A MAN. Luckily, this particular man was a good guy. He was there with his wife and kids, and was taking a break from body-slamming his 12 year old son in the ball pit. He was super friendly and kept rolling the ball back and forth with Orion for a few minutes, until I pulled the plug and left.
This time, we were lucky. Not only was this man a good guy, but we were in a video monitored facility where they check to make sure that the kid you're leaving with is the one you came in with. But the truth is, this isn't the first time I've had an "Oh, shit!" moment when it comes to Orion's safety.
We've recently gotten Season Passes for Disney, which means we spend a significant amount of time standing in line. Every single freaking time that he makes eye contact with someone in line, he's reaching his arms out to try to get them to hold him. I'm scared to death that one of these days someone is going to reach out to take him and I'm going to have to cut a bitch. Honestly though, why does he do that? Why does he approach every single stranger looking for love? I might as well put a T-shirt on him that says "I HEART WINDOWLESS WHITE VANS".
I guess vigilance is key, but jeesh.
Here's a lighter, but still a bit on topic, story from earlier today so that I'm not closing out with "OMG WTF MY BABY IS GOING TO BE ABDUCTED!!!" We used to frequent a fast food place before Orion was born and there was this girl working there that was kind of odd but very friendly. We only went there once with Orion before we left town because the girl didn't quite get the whole personal space thing. While we were in Oklahoma, our old haunt closed down. We had even wondered where the girl ended up. Today we went to another fast food place and there she was. We had a conversation similar to what we were used to, but then the oddest thing happened. Orion did the typical toddler thing where he takes a piece of food out of his mouth and holds it out in offer to the nearest adult. Of curse the standard response is, "Oh, no thank you! That's for you!" Not from this girl. This girl leaned down, opened her mouth, and fucking ATE the chunk of soggy chicken nugget right from his greasy paw.
It's good to be home. The End.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Party at my Crib
Orion has never had really consistent sleeping arrangments. The original plan when he was born was to have him sleep in the bassinet part of the Pack & Play in our room for a few weeks, then transition to his own crib in his own room. When we realized that bed time turned him into a head-spinning, projectile-vomitting, demon child we relaxed our goals a little bit. Eventually, we settled on co-sleeping as the best option for us. Mostly because I fell asleep feeding him one night and woke up four hours later which, at the time, was miraculous.
As time went on, we gradually transitioned away from co-sleeping using various combinations of bassinets, cribs, and co-sleeping time until he was finally spending all night in his crib in the weeks before we left Oklahoma. Well, except for the two to three times he was still getting up and coming into our bed for a bottle only to be carried back to his room when he was done.
When we hit the road to drive home, Orion was approaching his first birthday and was nowhere near sleeping through the night. When we got to the hotel the first night we set up his Pack & Play and put him down for bed, crossing our fingers that he wouldn't be confused by sleeping in the place he'd been playing and snacking at the old house. When I woke up, eight hours later, to the realization that Orion was STILL asleep I was amazed. Now, 45 days later, Orion is still sleeping through most nights and he's still sleeping in his Pack & Play.
I feel terrible about it. He's in there right now, sound asleep with his head and body backed against the narrow end and his feet straight out in front of him. There is room to spread out, if he lays just so, but many times he gets himself into the funny positions where it just doesn't seem like it can be comfortable. Dannon thinks he must be cozy. I think it looks restrictive. But I'll be damned if he isn't getting the best sleep of his life. Like, 12 hours a night with 0-1 wakings.
I'm just afraid to kill the mojo. We have plenty of space and plenty of opportunities to put the crib together, but there it sits. Leaning up against the wall in his new bedroom. I'm trying to convince Dannon to build the crib this weekend to give Orion a little bit more space, but I hope I'm not screwing up a good thing.
As time went on, we gradually transitioned away from co-sleeping using various combinations of bassinets, cribs, and co-sleeping time until he was finally spending all night in his crib in the weeks before we left Oklahoma. Well, except for the two to three times he was still getting up and coming into our bed for a bottle only to be carried back to his room when he was done.
When we hit the road to drive home, Orion was approaching his first birthday and was nowhere near sleeping through the night. When we got to the hotel the first night we set up his Pack & Play and put him down for bed, crossing our fingers that he wouldn't be confused by sleeping in the place he'd been playing and snacking at the old house. When I woke up, eight hours later, to the realization that Orion was STILL asleep I was amazed. Now, 45 days later, Orion is still sleeping through most nights and he's still sleeping in his Pack & Play.
I feel terrible about it. He's in there right now, sound asleep with his head and body backed against the narrow end and his feet straight out in front of him. There is room to spread out, if he lays just so, but many times he gets himself into the funny positions where it just doesn't seem like it can be comfortable. Dannon thinks he must be cozy. I think it looks restrictive. But I'll be damned if he isn't getting the best sleep of his life. Like, 12 hours a night with 0-1 wakings.
I'm just afraid to kill the mojo. We have plenty of space and plenty of opportunities to put the crib together, but there it sits. Leaning up against the wall in his new bedroom. I'm trying to convince Dannon to build the crib this weekend to give Orion a little bit more space, but I hope I'm not screwing up a good thing.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
This shit is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S
Last night, all I wanted was to do some laundry and watch American Idol. Ever since we moved into our apartment, our dryer has been out of commission. For some reason, this place requires a three prong dryer cord and our current one has four. I'm somewhat of a pro at this since we were living in this complex when the dryer was purchased and had to change the cord when we moved out. I'm convinced that no other place on earth has four pronged dryer outlets. Freaking communists. Anywho, one month, four trips to Home Depot, and a new power tool later we were all ready for the final push yesterday.
While I got the baby down, Dannon made the "final" trip to the store to replace the screw that we'd has to cut off. Just as Orion drifted off to sleep, the unthinkable occurred. The power went out due to the storm and stayed out for about 20 minutes, cutting a giant hole in the middle of my AI recording. I was bereft. Then Dannon came home and announced that Home Depot doesn't carry the right bolt. I was screwed. I had no other choice but to start getting caught up with Fringe on Hulu.
After a couple of stops this morning we finally found and old-timey hardware store with a couple of genuine old-time men who were willing to sell us a nut and bolt that "should work since it's not stainless steel". I have one more chance at my deal of catching up on laundry during AI. I think it's going to work, I just hope we don't burn the building down.
On the baby front, Orion has decided that he will be eating only bananas, Nilla wafers, and these vile toaster muffin-tops (heh!) I bought the other day on a whim. Since His Highness still requires warm stage-2 formula prior to falling asleep I'm not worried about nutrition, and I've read that it's a normal stage, but I'm getting a little bit tired of cleaning my thoughtfully homemade spagetti o's off the walls.
While I got the baby down, Dannon made the "final" trip to the store to replace the screw that we'd has to cut off. Just as Orion drifted off to sleep, the unthinkable occurred. The power went out due to the storm and stayed out for about 20 minutes, cutting a giant hole in the middle of my AI recording. I was bereft. Then Dannon came home and announced that Home Depot doesn't carry the right bolt. I was screwed. I had no other choice but to start getting caught up with Fringe on Hulu.
After a couple of stops this morning we finally found and old-timey hardware store with a couple of genuine old-time men who were willing to sell us a nut and bolt that "should work since it's not stainless steel". I have one more chance at my deal of catching up on laundry during AI. I think it's going to work, I just hope we don't burn the building down.
On the baby front, Orion has decided that he will be eating only bananas, Nilla wafers, and these vile toaster muffin-tops (heh!) I bought the other day on a whim. Since His Highness still requires warm stage-2 formula prior to falling asleep I'm not worried about nutrition, and I've read that it's a normal stage, but I'm getting a little bit tired of cleaning my thoughtfully homemade spagetti o's off the walls.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
We've strung a couple of rainy days together here, so the thee of us found ourselves at Family Fun Center again. For the third day in a row. Again. It's nice to be able to let Orion roam. Sometimes we're even lucky enough to meet nice people with nice little kids.
Today, I struck up a conversation with a couple of moms, one of whom I'd shared the L&D room with the day Orion was born. Soon we were talking about weaning strategies and growth curves and all that other great mommy stuff. I felt so...normal.
Then as the crazy elementary age kids worked the door for some afterschool running, jumping, and generalized mayhem I got the equivelent of the mommy secret handshake. That's right. An invitation to their Mommy and Me group. I know I should be all cool and aloof about this, but instead I feel like I'm sitting at the cool kids table in the lunchroom. It scares me to death but I think Im going to go tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.
Today, I struck up a conversation with a couple of moms, one of whom I'd shared the L&D room with the day Orion was born. Soon we were talking about weaning strategies and growth curves and all that other great mommy stuff. I felt so...normal.
Then as the crazy elementary age kids worked the door for some afterschool running, jumping, and generalized mayhem I got the equivelent of the mommy secret handshake. That's right. An invitation to their Mommy and Me group. I know I should be all cool and aloof about this, but instead I feel like I'm sitting at the cool kids table in the lunchroom. It scares me to death but I think Im going to go tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Home again, home again...
One day, a couple of months ago I had an epiphany. I looked around and realized that I'd been playing tough, but in reality I was a wreck.
The root of the problem was obvious. I had waited many years to have my first child, battling infertility and spousal indecsion to finally find myself with a three month old baby in July of 2008. I lived in a house that I loved and that Dannon and I had worked hard to get. We lived in Central Florida, our home, among friends and family. We loved our lives. I loved my life. So, of course I had to fuck it up somehow.
We accepted a transfer at work and moved, with only a month of notice, to Oklahoma City. A lot about the move looked great on paper, but quickly turned sour when we arrived. We found ourselves working impossible hours at an impossible task with impossibly cruel people. We were a million miles from home and a million miles from each other. Dannon and I barely knew each other, and our baby Orion was a stranger to both of us as we had no choice but to let the daycare raise him for us.
When I realized that I was daydreaming about things like cutting myself and suicide, I figured it was time to speak up. We had begun to hatch a plan that would get us out of Oklahoma City in an intellegent, well thought out way. Unfortunately, things came to a head and we found ourselved unemployed in Oklahoma at the beginning of April.
A few unexpected, but small, windfalls gave us enough cash to rent a truck and drive cross-country. From our swanky house in Oklahoma, we're back living in the same apartment complex we lived in when we were first married. We're financially ruined, and will be for years and years unless Powerball intervenes. There are still things that stress us out, like job searches and unemployment hearings, but we've already gotten back so much more than we've given up. We've got each other, we've got our families, and we're watching our son grow up. We're home again.
Home again.
Jiggity jog.
note: view my old, pregnancy and baby-centric thoughts at http://theorionnebula.blogspot.com/
The root of the problem was obvious. I had waited many years to have my first child, battling infertility and spousal indecsion to finally find myself with a three month old baby in July of 2008. I lived in a house that I loved and that Dannon and I had worked hard to get. We lived in Central Florida, our home, among friends and family. We loved our lives. I loved my life. So, of course I had to fuck it up somehow.
We accepted a transfer at work and moved, with only a month of notice, to Oklahoma City. A lot about the move looked great on paper, but quickly turned sour when we arrived. We found ourselves working impossible hours at an impossible task with impossibly cruel people. We were a million miles from home and a million miles from each other. Dannon and I barely knew each other, and our baby Orion was a stranger to both of us as we had no choice but to let the daycare raise him for us.
When I realized that I was daydreaming about things like cutting myself and suicide, I figured it was time to speak up. We had begun to hatch a plan that would get us out of Oklahoma City in an intellegent, well thought out way. Unfortunately, things came to a head and we found ourselved unemployed in Oklahoma at the beginning of April.
A few unexpected, but small, windfalls gave us enough cash to rent a truck and drive cross-country. From our swanky house in Oklahoma, we're back living in the same apartment complex we lived in when we were first married. We're financially ruined, and will be for years and years unless Powerball intervenes. There are still things that stress us out, like job searches and unemployment hearings, but we've already gotten back so much more than we've given up. We've got each other, we've got our families, and we're watching our son grow up. We're home again.
Home again.
Jiggity jog.
note: view my old, pregnancy and baby-centric thoughts at http://theorionnebula.blogspot.com/
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