ALL ABOUT EVA

Today Eva’s Mama turns 30. My Mom sometimes says that on my birthday I should be celebrating her. I know she is being facetious (right?), but she is also remembering that wild journey between the first small pains to the first hours of your child’s life on the outside, which can be pretty hard on a mama. Birth is no picnic for the little one either. She has to struggle to get out while being squashed and smooshed by contractions and then be greeted by lights, sounds, people, and numerous other things she didn’t experience on the warm, cozy, safe inside.

Growing up isn’t easy either. These past 5 months (and 30 years) have been fraught with challenges, tears, and pain only to be countered by joy, love, and wonderment. Sometimes you have to deal with the hard stuff before you get to the good stuff. For example, Eva hasn’t been sleeping well. After thinking it could be a million things (teething, 4-5 month sleep regression, crib position, bedtime, etc.) we now believe she has made great developmental strides and is working these out in her sleep. She is working so hard on sitting and rolling over, she is doing them in her sleep, thus waking herself up. Last night we found her on her belly at the corner of her crib (not where we put her). This hard work will all culminate in a bright independent child who is able to move around and get what she wants by herself. And then on to the next milestone.

Turning 30 is strange. I guess I never thought I would be this age. But this is definitely not as big a deal as having a child. And having a child will make my 30’s the best years of my life thus far. 30 is the new 11!

Some things Eva and I had in common at our births: Kaiser Oakland, having to maneuver around that pesky tailbone we eventually broke, challenging ourselves by travelling out facing up rather than down, having supportive, loving and involved Dads at the birth, having supportive and knowledgeable doulas.
So Mom, on this great day, I salute you. And I also salute me.

Eva’s Mama in her birthday suit…

Read the rest of this entry »

Eva does not enjoy eating her vitamin D. I completely understand. I take my vitamins and supplements (all 10 that I have been taking since finding out I was pregnant) in pill form and swallow them as quickly as possible. She has to taste them. Whenever I feed them to her she gets a disgusted look on her face but dutifully swallows until it is gone. (Well, I guess some of it comes out of her mouth.) I feel this is an example of her temperament which will further manifest itself in the future. She will tell me, “Well Mom, I don’t like it, but if you say so, I guess I should [fill in the blank].”

I struggled with whether or not to post this photo. It looks like she ate something horrible. However, I threw caution to the wind and here we are.

Update: Apparently the photo above was a hit, so here are a few more.

So, when I was younger, my Mom would sometimes wash my darks with whites and I would end up with shirts with little white balls on them. I hated this. Well this weekend I washed Eva’s brown knit leggings with whites, on warm. They turned into snowballs! I loves these pants, and our friends bought them at a sample sale so I can’t go and buy new ones. So I broke out the sweater shaver. I can’t believe I am shaving these little leggings! I can’t believe I have time to shave these little leggings! But they are cute.

On another note, I am washing my sheets for the fourth time this week. That’s Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. These diapers just don’t hold it in. Sometimes I feel like the laundromat is my home, but dirtier (if you can believe that).

Update: Make that 5 nights this week. After Eva’s bath, I put her on the bed with diapers underneath. However she just keeps trying to flip over to her tummy, and oops, back to the laundromat.