Before and After...

Before and After..., originally uploaded by shellipsm.

On the left, you see my hair with the EVER present "bump" from my pony tail holder. On the right, my NEW, FABOO DO!

I LOVE my "stylist." When my hair was short short short a few years ago, I discovered this wonderful Russian barber in Chelsea. $15.00 for a haircut, but he's the only one I'll trust with my hair. He knows my hair REALLY well, and I basically went to him, gave him a big hug after a 3 year absence, updated him on our lives, and told him to do whatever he thought would be best.

chop chop...

I'm cutting my hair.

All off.

Again.

Hopefully tomorrow.

Odds and ends...

First and foremost - I am a LAME ASS FRIEND. Two of my warrior sisters, girls I have known for MORE THAN THREE YEARS through infertility and pain and joys, had birthdays.

And I forgot.


Cat, S - I love you guys, and am SO sorry!

I hope that your birthdays were wonderful, and S, we are waiting and praying and hoping that your joy of joys will come this year.



And on to other bits...

Like many of you, as your blog readership increases, you begin to wonder just HOW much you should publically share? What if the people you wish to share about read your blog? The modern blog has replaced the diary. Or has it? Has self censorship taken over our ability to truly journal? And, if you are in a relationship, how much of your "couple-ness" do you share, so that you may use the blog as a form of self expression, while respecting the privacy of the other part of your couple? Since I tend to love Narda very much, I don't want to share about our personal stuff with the world wide web. I tend to have few self-inposed limits in terms of what I'm willing to share about myself, but I do have love and respect for Narda. So that's why you all don't get to read about the daily life and all of the minutiae of "Chez Hydrangea." So sorry. I will share, however, that we have established a new rule at "CH" (Chez Hydrangea). BEFORE our morning coffee is consumed, there will be no deep, meaningful conversation allowed; it's just not fair to two sleep-deprived mommies.

And even more bits...

There's a REALLY LOUD CAR ALARM going off right now, and if MP3 wakes up because of it, someone's going to perish a SLOW, painful death! I mean, serisoulsy, people - WHAT is the benefit of car alarms anymore? NO ONE runs out to turn them off! By the time the darn thing DOES turn itself off (after five or more non-stop painful minutes), the good stuff's already knicked! So really? What's the point? They no longer deter theft.

And finally, MP3, aka Malka Palka Pooka Palka, is feeling MUCH better, thank you very much - and she wants me to let you know that she's ready, willing and able to help anyone out who needs to take antibiotics, because, apparantly, they are yummy. I actually touched my tounge to the end of the dropper after giving her the night dose, and WOAH! It's like the syrup they make orange creamsicles out of - EEK. Her nose is still a little runny, but she seems to be over the worst of it. Me? Not so much. Ugh. Add to that my wonderful cousin Nathan is in town from Portland, and staying with us, which is GREAT! But. We are all staying up WAY late to talk and catch up. And then MP3's in our room, because her room is also the guest room, and only tonight she got used to sleeping in the pack and play in our room. Last night? she woke up at 11:30 and would ONLY go to sleep on my chest. I was afraid to fall asleep, and Narda, genius woman that she is, brought her carseat into our room, and put it on the bed, between us, where MP3 promptly fell asleep until morning.

Sleep, perchance to dream. I'm off to bed. But I have to go and feed cats, scoop poop, wash dishes and prep bottles for daycare first. Erp. I should get off line!

vaccinations...

They have vaccines for babies called:

* Hepatitis B (HepB)
* Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTaP)
* Haemophilus influenzae Type b (Hib)
* Inactivated polio (IPV)
* Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)
* Varicella (chickenpox)
* Pneumococcal (PCV)
* Influenza (flu)
* Hepatitis A (HepA)
* Rotavirus

But NOTHING for DVFH (Daycare Virus form HELL!)

Sigh.

I RARELY if EVER get sick. Even less so since I quit smoking 4 years ago. But I had heard the rumors. You know, the "mom gets sick and stays that way longer than baby." I thought - ha! Yeah right, not me!

Gah.

Thank goodness for Advil Cold and Sinus - it's all that's keeping me breathing at this point.

But I will say that my old "Sexy Sophia Loren Morning Voice" which was the ONLY benefit of my smoking, is BACK. Yeah, baby. If only it wasn't accompanied by a sore throat.

I'm hoping to go into work tomorrow. I might just do a part day, taking it easy, so that I don't knock myself completely out for later on in the week...

Seth as Billy Lawler

Seth as Billy Lawler, originally uploaded by shellipsm.

Seth and I have been friends since we were 13. We went to the prom together, and came out to each other shortly thereafter.

Seth is one of the most talented people I know - go see his show if you can!

Remember when...

You stayed home "sick" from school? Hoping to have complete run of the house and watch tv, play games, and do all kinds of wild child activities? But then your mom "magically" had a day off to take care of you? Or your grandmother (z"l) would come over to make you soup?

And then the days that you were ACTUALLY sick? And wanted someone to be home and take care of you and wait on you hand and foot? And listen to you complain and whine? And then your mom had a meeting she couldn't get out of, so you were stuck home solo? But just.couldn't.get.out.of.bed...

As I became a member of the working class, I've prided myself on never missing a show, never taking a sick day, and just on occasion, actually using the "personal day." There was that day in May when I couldn't get out of bed, due to the rotavirus, but I was on official FMLA leave (taking care of MP3 - aka Malka Palka Pooka Palka) from NYU at that point, so it doesn't count.

And right now? I'm SO F'ING SICK! Ugh. My poor nose, I have chills and coughing and am generally unwell. And Malka has a double ear infection. And Narda has to teach two classes tomorrow. So tomorrow, I am working from home, and taking a sick day. Where I get to take care of MP3 and maybe, just maybe get a nap in when she naps.

Anyone wanna come over and make me some soup?

Survey says?

Ear infection in BOTH ears.

Poor boo.

Cruisin for a brusin...

Leather sofa, meet Malka, Malka, meet your path to Eemah.

She's crusin' folks - put her at one end of the sofa, and she'll work her way to my laptop at the other end in about 20 seconds flat. Because she then gets her "reward" - aka, her attempt to hit the keys like Eemah does, and then when she DOES hit one, to look up at me and giggle - like: "Wow! Did you see what I just did? Cool, huh?" Yes, Malka, it is pretty cool, punkin. I also witnessed her walking with holding just ONE finger at daycare. At home, it's always two.

And ayup, she STILL has a fever - it broke this am, just as we were going to bring her in to the doctor. And she was all giggly again. So we took her to daycare instead. But it went back up again at some random point at daycare. So Narda will bring her in tomorrow.

This is her 4th cold. I've done pretty OK with the previous 3, but I've been sneezing up a storm with this one. And now have a sore throat. Ah, germs, the gift that keeps on giving.

Do you think there's a return policy on such a "Gift?" I forgot my receipt.

Save the Cheerleader, save the world.

I never thought I'd EVER agree with such a statement.

Feed a fever...

So Nurse Beth tonight said that you shouldn't treat a baby's fever unless it gets to be 105. (insert ZOINKS icon here) - Nurse Sara, however, (on Friday night) said to give her Tylenol and Motrin any old time.

So um - do you think the nurses could get together and have a little pow-wow to at least give out consistent information please?

Malka's fever broke this am, and was pretty normal all day. But then it went up again tonight.

Beth said that a fever is a GOOD thing. It means her body is fighting infection. She asked if there were any other symptoms, and I shared about the neon green snot. This is daycare cold #4 - and by far the worst.

Now, being a science geek at heart, I totally understand the concept about her little white blood cells marching like an army to battle the big bad virus called the cold, and needing the help of body heat to make the battle go smoother. I get it. But could someone tell my Eemah heart that is worried sick about her baby that she'll be fine?

I KNOW how lucky we are with this being her FIRST fever at 10 months old. We are VERY lucky. But I still worry about the Malka Palka Pooka Palka. Beth said to call in the morning when they open. I might have to take her in. Ugh.


(I will confess that the extra clinginess was kind of nice, however, given her new found independent status....)





.... for those that are interested, here's the fever progression:

Friday at daycare - She slept form 10:30am to 2:30pm. OY. First red flag.
@ 8pm - "hmm, she feels really warm - I'll take her temp" - it was 101.5; we gave her tylenol
@10:15pm (she woke up whining, and where we'd usually let her soothe herself back to sleep, we wanted another temp reading.) It was 100.9 (YEA Tylenol)

Saturday:
@ 5:45am - 100.9 (gave her tylenol)
@ 7:00am - 99.9
@ 11:45am - 101.8 - (gave her tylenol)
@ 4:00pm - 102.8 - (gave her motrin for the first time)
@ 5:00pm - 101.4
@ 9:00pm - 97.7

Sunday:
@ 5:00am - 100.8 (gave her tylenol)
@ 8:00am - 97.8
@ 10:45am - 99.8 (gave her motrin)
@ 2pm - 99.4
@ 7:30pm - 101.9 (gave her tylenol)
@ 8:20pm - 100.8
@ 9:30pm - 99.3


All of this information is thanks to the new chalk-board-painted front door - it's an easy spot to record all of this...

Note to self...

If, becuause your baby has a fever, you decide to do hourly check-ups on her, to make sure the Tylenol is working, um, DON'T hiccup.

Poor little Malka Palka Pooka Palka has her first fever. It was 101.5 when I first noticed she was warm. When she was younger, I used to check her temperature ALL the time. Now just every so often. After her temp check, she had a bath, some tylenol and we had Shabbos at home - lit candles, had some wine, (Malka LOVES Shabbat, as she gets a drop of wine from my finger. She hears the Bracha and gets rather excited.) We then hung out in the living room for a bit, where she giggled at Quincy and walked around her activity table. I took her temp again before bed, and it was down to 100.9. She went down pretty easily, at about 8pm.

At 9:15 or so, I wanted to go check on her. So Narda and I sneak into her room, and I put my hand on her chest, to feel movement, as I often do (although it's harder now, as she sleeps on her tummy with her tush tush up in the air - it's rather cute!) But I digress... So I put my hand on her back, to feel her movement, and then to feel her head, and I let rip the biggest "hickleburp*" ever! It was all Narda and I could do not to explode in a fit of giggles. MP3 (Malka Palka Pooka Palka)lifted her head, but went back to sleep. We stealthfully snuck back out into the living room, and proceeded to laugh hysterically.

We just woke her up (well, kind-of, she actually bonked her head into her crib and woke her self up a little bit - under normal circumstances, we'd let her soothe herself back to sleep, but we took advantage of the oppoerunity to take her temp and give her some more tylenol and water. It's now down to 100.4 (Baruch Ha'Shem!) So we just pray that it continues to go down.

*A Hickleburp is a phrase I made up when I was 12 or so. It's when you have a hiccup that ends in a burp - A hickleburp!

Happy (belated) National Coming Out Day.

So yesterday, October 11th, was National Coming Out Day. It just slipped by, and I didn't even realize it. Why, you may ask? For one, almost everyone I know knows that I'm gay. And those that didn't, figured it out when we adopted Malka.

Sometimes I have to come out EVERY day. With total and complete strangers. (Because I am a white woman with a black baby and a black partner. And I use the word black, because I do not describe myself as Caucasian-American. In actuality, I am more Lithuanian-American than anything else. My grandmother z"l, Malka's namesake, was born in Lithuania. I am only a 2nd generation American. So I am simply referring to skin color here, not country of origin.)

Kids say the darndest things sometimes - like: "Why is she a different color than you?" Then I have the wonderful opportunity to say something like: "Because she grew in my heart, not in my tummy." I appreciate the honesty of kids, rather than the looks I get from some folks. They look at her, they look at me, they look back at her and then divert their eyes.

Is it because it's obvious that I'm gay? What makes it obvious? Is it because I'm a white mom with a black baby? Is it because Malka has two mommies? There are aspects of our lives that will become more public than we care to make them, simply because we have a child, and kids are cruel. I was the victim of childhood cruelty. Maybe that's why I'm such a smart-ass now, who knows? I just want the world to hurry up and not only allow Narda and to legally get married (because I'm a frugal gal, and it's MUCH cheaper to protect our family by getting hitched for 36 bucks down at city hall than it is to get legal protections by paying a lawyer thousands of dollars.) But to become more tolerant so that Malka can grow up in a world where she's special and different because of her own accomplishments, not because of what her mommies are. It just shouldn't matter.

Currently, there are approx. 1,000,000 (that's one MILLION) kids living in LGBT families. HRC Website Source And I'm just thrilled that we know a handful of them, and consider them friends.

Now if the rest of America would just hurry up and jump on the bus already, we'd appreciate it. Because we really want Malka Palka Pooka Palka to grow up in a world that is accepting of her family. Thank you.

SO behind....

Please forgive me, internets - What with working for a Shul, and being heavily active in ours, this is a bad time of year for that mysterious thing called "free time," aka, time to blog.

I have some great HP theories roaming about in my noggin, and I'm re-reading the series. Again. I can say this - (hopefully before someone else does...) I have some weird feelings about Mcgonagal in book 6 towards the end. I think there may have been some either poly juice potion, or control by Death Eaters going on. What?! You say, she's crazy! I'll go into more detail later on, but I just wanted to get the idea out into the open.

Malka now has 8 teeth, and we've FINALLY found a diaper that can last over night. We were getting PRETTY tired of the 3-4:30am awake time, because once she wakes up, it's usually an hour and a half before she'll go back down. ugh. And there's nothing like a nice wet diaper to wake one up at 3am. So my hat is off to Huggies overnights, size 5. THANK YOU Huggies! (I'm sure popping two more teeth didn't help with the wakings, either...)

We're doing some serious decluttering, as now that we have the (below mentioned) faboo furniture, we need to make our apartment a bit more hip and less crowded. I did wonders with the linen closet this am. Tonight, I'm tackling the hall closet. Wish me luck.

Malka is also now doing this crab walk thing. Now that she's mastered crawling, she's WAY over it, and would rather stand up, thank you very much. We think that she thinks that the crab walk makes it easier to stand at her destination. Despite our best efforts at communication, she refuses to believe that crawling is actually a faster way to get to said destination.

Her nap time is almost over, and I have to make dinner. So internets, thanks for being there, and I promise to write more soon.

Adults at last...

The new sofa set, originally uploaded by shellipsm.

Working from home today, I finally have a few minutes to upload a few pictures of our new sofa set! It's leather, baby. It can withstand cats and babies alike. It is a sleeper sofa.

We are thrilled.

I have sprayed *Feliaway," on it, and will feed Cougie a snack near it, so as to prevent him from marking it.

Any advice for further cat-pee-prevention techniques are gladly appreciated.

(for now, he's being locked in our room while we are out...)

It's the cheerleader's dad!

For the record, I said to Narda at the beginning of the episode that it was her father.

JUST for the record.

(if you have NO idea what I'm talking about... Go here)