Losing It

I've never been one of those girls who has lost the baby weight because of nursing. I know several other mamas who practically melted after their babes were born, but my body seems to be programmed to hold onto weight after birth. I guess it's to protect us from starvation in case of a long winter or something. Evolutionary WIN, but pants size FAIL. Plus, breast feeding makes me absolutely ravenous. It's like, as soon as milk starts flowing, my tummy starts rumbling, and if he takes his time feeding, my fingers start looking pretty appetizing.

In the past, I've never had any major motivation to lose my baby weight by any particular time. After Sam was born we moved to Atlanta, and I was so busy packing and unpacking that dieting was the last thing on my mind. Then once Lucy was born we moved back to Philly, and again there was so much going on that I couldn't really focus on losing weight. After Maggs was born I did start going to Weight Watchers again, but then I got pregnant and, well, now here I am with a one month old and a bridesmaid dress to wear in sixteen days.

Yes, I am in a wedding at the end of this month. Talk about motivation!

My dear cousin Laura is getting hitched, and I agreed to be in the wedding before I was knocked up. I ordered my dress early in the second trimester, but I knew it would be dicey. The dresses are from J Crew, and I ordered the largest size I could, but my bust measurements were already pushing the limits. After Freddie was born, I gave myself one week before I even attempted to try on the dress.

You can probably imagine how that went.

Luckily, two weeks later, my boobs had gone from having their own gravitational field to simply humongous, and I was able to get into the dress. Not that it was comfortable or anything. And wearing a bra is pretty much out of the question, because even the thickness of the fabric makes it not fit. I took it to a few tailors to see if I could get it let out a little on top, but there isn't any extra material in the seams to give me some (literal) breathing room.

So drastic times have called for drastic measures.

I've reverted back to my pre-Sam-pregnancy eating habits, which is when I was at the thinnest I've ever been in my adult life. It's been tough, and I frequently feel like eating the coffee table seems like a delicious idea. But after only a week, I am seeing some fairly promising results. So I'm hoping that by the times this wedding rolls around, I'll be able to not only wear my bridesmaid dress, but wear it without crying.

Wish me luck!

Freddie: Month One

Dear Freddie,

Please help your dear mother out. Don't grow anymore. I can't believe that this is the first installment of the last installment of monthly letters. As you can imagine, this is difficult for me. What makes it even more difficult is that you seem to double in size every four days or so. Here is you when you were first born:

And you are the other day, smiling at your mama like it's no big deal:

You're still a little leery of my bigger camera, so a cell phone photo will have to do for now! And while these photos don't quite capture the growth you've achieved recently, everyone who sees you on a semi-regular basis has noticed. My father even though you grew between last tuesday and friday!

Your fingers and toes are insane. Random people comment on how big your hands are. And you have monkey toes for sure. You will even try and grab onto thing with your long toes! Your nails grow at the speed of light, which is horrible, because you don't enjoy having them cut. However, when I don't cut them you scratch the hell out of your face. No fun!

You've had the chance to meet most of your relatives by now. None of my grandparents ever got to meet any of your siblings when they were as young as you, and it was a really special occasion for my grandmother, who beat cancer last year.

You're playing a little here and there. And by playing, I mean staring intently at stuff, looking vaguely amused. It's super cute.

You are a sweet, sweet darling boy. I can't get enough of your little squeaks and grunts, and it melts me inside when you clutch onto my hair, so that when I lay you down you have a few strands in your fists. You smell like baby, and sometimes I almost want to lick your head to see how you taste!

March 23

April 4

You could be sleeping more at night, but you're only a month old, so I'll forgive you. Because I just love you so very, very much, my forever baby.

Love, Mama

Some Signs of Spring

Can You Hear Me Now?

Rump Shakers

So our house came with a whole house sound system. Which totally didn't work. Something about being twenty years old and hardly ever being used. For months SOB inspected, prodded, pulled and poked and the various wires protruding from our walls. After some research, some ebay-ing, and some swearing, he finally got the system working.

And now? We dance!

Tenacious B(elly Button)

Of all four of my children, Freddie's belly button scabby thing persisted the longest. Previously, Sam held the record at three weeks exactly, but Fred's lasted three weeks and four days. This photo was taken yesterday, and today the little brown stump finally fell off.

And guess what? I was sad.

Young Fred is going to be my last baby, and because of that I have been cherishing all of the fleeting newborn things. His little squeaks, the milia here and there on his face, and yes, even the belly button scab.

So even though I've never done so before, I'm contemplating keeping the stump. Gross, true, but my hormonal sentimentality doesn't care. Do you?

New Discoveries

When Freddie was born and SOB went back to work, my parents helped out by taking the kids to stay with them. They took Lucy and Maggie for two days, leaving me with the boys. Then they took Sam, leaving me with the girls and the baby. During this time, Lucy and Maggie discovered each other, and it was amazing!

I think that because we had always referred to Maggie as "the baby" Lucy never considered her much of a playmate. Yes, there were times when they played in the same area, but those were situations where Lucy simply tolerated Maggie. But now? They are becoming friends!

My aunt and uncle bought the kids Despicable Me when Freddie was born, and the kids love it. Earlier this week I put the movie on after dinner, and Maggie and Lucy snuggled up together on a chair. For about fifteen minutes. Then Maggie decided that she needed to be ON Lucy's lap instead of just next to it:

And she stayed there until bedtime.

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Freddie discovered the gymni this week!

And clothes other than pj's!

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Maggie has discovered the power of positive reinforcement. She's been super-sweet with Freddie, and since we often praise her when she's gentle, she takes every opportunity to kiss and hug him. Lovely.

Yesterday, I kept finding her laying on the floor next to a box of diapers. Because I am a busy mother of four, since she wasn't crying I didn't pay much attention to what she was doing down there. Finally, after noticing her down there for the sixth or seventh time, I took a closer look at what she was doing: she was kissing the baby on the picture. How freaking cute is that?

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My older kids have discovered the joys of bowling, thanks to a school field trip.

It was kind of awesome, and all six of us attended, which was even more awesome!

It's been a busy week...How about you?