dancerjodi

I've been enjoying the cooler air, getting excited about fall. I love summer 'stuff' but hate the heat. Fall is surely my most wonderful time of the year. I do regret not getting to the drive-in yet this season, though we still have some time. We only made it to the beach once. We did enjoy our neighborhood spray park a good deal. And walked a lot. And ate a lot of local ice cream. We've been enjoying the free concerts on the common a good deal. Mina has a 'boyfriend' there that she calls "Bat". He had a Batman shirt on the first night she met him, a month or so ago. Last night's band was really kickin', called "Legit", they are a huge wedding band. That girl was ripping up the dance floor, getting a lot of attention from the locals.

Our summer ballet hasn't come back which makes me feel lazy, but the studio will open again for the year in a little over a month. Mina will start lessons in the baby class. Just nuts! She is growing like a weed, so I'm hoping she can get away with wearing the size 7 tap shoes I have for her. She is just almost out of a 6 now. We went to buy her some more shoes this week, a 6.5 and a 7. The girl loves shoe shopping. I am doomed! She picked out some BRIGHT aqua blue Saucony sneakers. The bigger ones are Stride Rites. Investing in proper footwear is important to me, because I want to keep her walking well.

She is talking up a storm. And counting! At school yesterday the director said "look at these two pretty girls!" and Mina replied "Kyla 1, me 2". She counted them! We talk all the time, do our abcs and 123s and count things out for her. All kids reach things at different times and by kindergarten they are all pretty on par with each other. It is just nuts to hear her conversing in sentence-like phrases and she's 19 mos.

Sleeping is getting better. She's staying in her bed more, and we are putting her down awake, though still sitting with her, holding her hand/rubbing her until she is asleep. She is surely a snuggle bug.

Work is getting interesting with lots of people leaving and things up in the air while we are in the process of a potential merger with Partners and are waiting for new IT systems to go in (unrelated to the Partners thing). Last year I had a reading from a reputable psychic/medium, and she told me that she saw great change/upheavel in my professional life coming, but didn't see me moving location. This could surely be it (if you tend to believe in those sorts of things). One thing is for sure, I am never bored here.

I'm looking forward to a few days in the White Mountains and then some local day trips for our (finally) vacation.

Convention season is ramping up. I need to figure out what I want to wear.

And I want to get sewing and knitting again. And cooking and baking. And cleaning/organizing our house. Fall/Winter is the best time of year for these kinds of things for me.

We had a nice, busy weekend. We celebrated May 4th/Free Comic Book day with the folks at http://www.dmcomics.com/. Mina won her first costume contest! She won best in the kid's category. We will need to go back to pick up her DK Publishing/Lego book gift pack (worth $50) soon. Her and Daddy http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancerjodi/8707053891/ had a lot of fun getting lots of reactions from the (huge) crowd.

We met up with the goth moms Saturday afternoon/night for a huge clothing swap and to say goodbye to T and G, who move to PA soon. So strange! It is weird thinking of us all swirling around Man Ray not too long ago.

On Sunday our friend E came by so that Brian and I could celebrate our good friend S's birthday/annual movie day (Iron Man 3). She and Mina had a great time, and so we'll need to plan another date soon. Gatsby and Star Trek are both coming up.

This weekend is the http://internationalsteampunkcitywaltham.org/WCF/, which we are hitting on Saturday with a friend (also, the farmer's market is coming for a day). We are hosting mother's day breakfast on Sunday. Hopefully we will have some good spring weather. The warmer weather is really making me feel alive again!

Our dance recital is in a little over a month, so the more serious prep for that is ramping up: later classes, confirming lines, getting costume bits together. So exciting! This year we have a larger venue, so thankfully only one show (Saturday of Father's Day weekend).

We've all survived the weekend of dance recitals! The theater we've had the show in over the last couple of years is too small for one, so it was expanded to two shows (Saturday afternoon and Sunday night). I was away from Mina for the most time over a weekend, and Brian spent the most 1x1 time with her. I think we all did well with it. It was great to see my studio friends and I was glad that Brian was able to have special daddy/daughter time. Seeing them together just makes my heart swell. I pumped in my car with a lighter adapter for the first time during the 2nd half of both shows (I was only in the finale). It was an adventure, but I did well with it. We also walked 5 miles along the Riverwalk on the Charles on Sunday morning, so I was sore come Sunday night, oof!

Her sleeping just seemed to be getting better (she had 2 great naps yesterday) but then we went to the Pedi and she got 2 shots. The last time we did this she was Miss Crankypants for 2 nights. Ah well. She went down after some challenges (took me an hour to do it) and slept for 5.5 hours. Once she got up from there it was into the bed with us. We just didn't expect her to sleep for long after eating and putting her back down again, so feeding her in bed is just easier.

She's 15.6 pounds now, woah! That puts her in the 88th percentile (she was born in the 8th). Developmentally she's doing great - at or above the standard for 4 months old. The Pedi (and the OT that runs her Monday playgroup) both think that her restlessness at night is due to her new motor skills. She gets up because her body wants to practice her new fun things! We asked about food, and they said in no way start this until the 6 month mark. All it will do is pack on more unnecessary pounds. She suggested that we only feed her 1x over the night (after that first big sleep). She said that she isn't hungry upon subsequent wakings - that eating to sleep is probably just a soothing habit of hers. It is surely one we created, knowing it would be an issue to break out of later. It is comforting both to she and I. They gave us a couple of days before starting though - to get her through the crankiness that results from having 2 shots. After that first waking last night when we brought her into bed, she was up and looking for the boob every hour or so. She'd start eating, fall asleep, fall off and then realize an hour or so later, and fuss for the boob again. I don't think she ate too much during that routine, but it does explain how she got so chunky so fast. This should be interesting!

Though she was 2 pounds smaller than me at birth, at 4 months she's the same size I was. I remember being hung up on my weight at a young age (at Kindergarden I was aware that I was the fattest girl in the class). I don't want this to be a hangup for her. We'll do what we can to set good examples and make her surroundings healthy and active.

She's active though - rolled over back to front and front to back! Is super chatty, and moves her right arm up and down like one of those good luck gold cats at the Chinese restaurant. Blowing raspberries, sticking out her tongue and chewing/drooling on her hand (she's found and is using her mouth). She's also looking at her fingers all like "woah dude, what are those things?!". It is just fascinating to see her grow.

I did ask about weaning so that I don't have to pump come August. They suggest I drop 1 feeding (or pumping) a day for a week, then drop another, and another to gradually scale down my production. I'm starting this week, dropping my mid-day pump. This is so hard for me! I've almost started this process for a few weeks now, but 11:00 comes and I just pump anyway. I like breastfeeding her, but I would be lying if I didn't say it is a PITA sometimes. I love the connection, but it is hard, hard work. I don't want to have to bring a pump with me to FL in August when I'm away from her for 4 days. I know that I've given her (literally) of myself and that I didn't want to BF for forever. Still, it is difficult. I keep reminding myself of the liberation I'll have not having to lug pumps and pump stuff with me. Having my lunch hour back to go to the gym. Not having to worry about what I'm eating or drinking or where I can sit to leisurely feed her. I am mourning, but I think it is time to start working on it. Bear with me please on this. :)

I booked a cabin in the White Mountains in July for the three of us to have a little mini weekend vacation. We stayed there before, right on the banks of the Pemiquasset River. This time I booked one with a little kitchenette so that we can make our own food and take care of her food/bottles. Traveling with a baby: this should be interesting! We'll bring her pack and play. She's too young to really appreciate all of the things we'll enjoy when she gets older, but I know she'll love the scenery. It is so much fun to daydream about the things to come.

We toured the Maternity areas of Newton Wellesley Hospital last night. Swanky! Since I work for a hospital organization and have meetings in either of our two hospitals often, being in this kind of setting isn't anything odd to me. What is odd is how NWH doesn't have the "hospital smell", and how bright/new/fancy it all is. Folks at my employer would tell you it is due to demographics, being owned by Partners and the $ that comes from that. Anyway, it was neat to see what our 'home away from home' will be like for a few days in January.

I have a lot of bulk-cooking do to over the next few months. Having ready-made food from the freezer that's wholesome and homemade is a wonderful thing. I'm sure we will also utilize take-out, Sharma's across the street and Peapod quite often in the early parenting weeks.

As it turns out we are hosting Thanksgiving after all. Originally that was not the plan, so we hadn't ordered a turkey from our CSA. Low and behold, they haven't had a lot of losses this year (they over-buy the babies so that they are secure that they can provide everyone a bird that ordered one). Despite not preordering, we will be able to buy a turkey from the same place we've been doing that for years. I love cooking and hosting. This year we'll also have the NEW MUPPET MOVIE to enjoy!

Dance class and glee tonight! I'm getting bigger and more awkward and more swollen as time goes on (couldn't wear my wedding rings this morning, so now it has officially moved to my fingers). It is worst first thing in the morning which is odd - bad when I'm still laying in bed (and gets better later in the day). Heat related? Our second floor is warmer than our first given our steam heat/single thermostat system. I'll miss another ballet class on Thursday (this time for a CPR class - last week for a doctor's appointment). I am curious to see if I will be able to dance to full term, but if I have to give up a bit earlier I feel proud that I've come this far at least.

Our plan tomorrow is to finish the paining that has to be done in the short term (trim around our front door and the ceiling in the baby's room). Once that bit is done we can actually set up the room and get ourselves a crib. We're hoping to pick up our carseats this weekend, meaning we'll have the necessities we need for birth. Whoot!

Indeed! Working out (in the right way for us) would make us all more pleasant to be around http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2011/05/why-to-exercise-today-21/.

Since Christmas fell on a Saturday this year, I had Friday off. Yesterday's snow storm (we got around a foot) left me with one more day, making for one extremely long weekend! I was able to spend a good deal of time puttering around the house cooking, cleaning, organizing and a tiny bit of sewing. It was just heavenly!

We saw family on Christmas Eve at my Sister's house - I can't believe how big all of our nephews are getting! Brian and I were to sleep in the spare bedroom, i.e. Hugho's room, so the two of us slept squished on a small bed with a large Boxer between us. It seemed like a quieter, more meaningful Christmas this year since people seemed to favor the time and the food over the presents.

We watched a lot of movies and TV over the weekend, which is leaving me feeling like a bit of a mush brain because it's not something I typically do. The Dr. Who Christmas episode was great this year (their version of A Christmas Carol, of sorts). Since Brian has been catching up on Smallville it has been all Superman all the time in our house, so we watched the original 1978 movie (holds up wonderfully). Ironically enough, there was a 2-hour documentary on the History Channel on the history of Superman which we watched, which lead us to learn about (and find on the internet) a 70s Superman musical. It was terrible! It was worse than the Star Wars Holiday Special and has a similar fame (aired once on TV, never to be spoken of again). Thankfully, watching the Lost Boys #3 that we had borrowed from our friend Justin a long time ago finally redeemed our weekend. It was just the right amount of cheese, just the right amount of nodding to the original (such a great movie).

This was the first snow storm of the season requiring much intervention from us, and our little snowblower that could (Toro! Toro!) did an excellent job quickly clearing out the 3' pile that the city plows left on the end of the driveway. We are petsitting for our friends Krista and Sean and managed to time things such that their new downstairs neighbor had cleared the driveway already (he let us go through his apartment into the house to get to the cats, since the front wasn't cleared yet). And I had to stop by my old childhood home a few blocks away to check and make sure there was enough water in the boiler. The house has a single steam heat (gas) system, and they were going through a ton of water having to fill it each day, since some of the release valves on the 2nd floor radiators were open too much or were defective. It's still odd to me that there are two apartments in my formerly single-family home. We passed Gram's old house on the way back to ours to see the young couple that lives their now clearing the snow. Part of me is sad that we weren't able to buy her house, but I'm glad that it's got some new life with a young couple and their young child.

It's all about snow and cold lately. This weekend I noticed that my schmancy shearling LL Bean boots that I purchased last year have some stitching coming apart near the ankle, rubbing on my heel just on the left side, and threatening to cause a blister. I went to the Burlington store during my lunch hour to day to see if I could return them and buy something else - bad mistake! There was a huge, huge line and I'm guessing, not much of a selection to buy from too. Hopefully things will return to normal over the next couple of weeks. I'd like to have new, comfy and warm boots to wear on our NYC trip in February. My challenge is always finding something attractive, and comfy, and waterproof, and warm.

NYC! What should we check out? We are crossing our fingers that Spiderman the Musical actually opens safely and that we can see it.

Dinner with some peeps from the dance studio tonight. I've always wanted to check out South Pacific http://www.yelp.com/biz/south-pacific-newton-highlands and some ladies from the studio are going in lieu of our dance class (we are on break until the new year). Oh my body will be happy to get back to class and back to the gym!

The show was great, as expected. In some ways I felt like I was back in high school again (It's been 17 years - I was 17 when I left those halls). In other ways I felt very old. There was this very touching dance to Martina McBride's http://www.lyrics007.com/Martina%20Mcbride%20Lyrics/In%20My%20Daughter%27s%20Eyes%20Lyrics.html . There were moms who I went to school with or took lessons from dancing with their daughters, moms of some of the current WHS students, and one pregnant dancer to boot. So sweet! The show seemed to follow it's formula in some ways but was a bit more modern with more elements of hip hop, and some Bollywood-ish choreography to Jai Ho from slumdog.

My cousin (a Senior in the show) ordered tickets for me, and it was strange seeing her up there looking just like her Mom. See former comment about being old - the last time I was in dance theater, this was my cousin http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancerjodi/3286617432/in/set-72157613927660897/ . That photo ws taken at my graduation party a few months after DT 93.

It was great to see people, and I regret not doing the alum dance in the show - next time! I did pick up a T-shirt and a form to order back copies of shows. My 92 VHS tape was damaged at some point, and it featured the amazing kick-butt tap routine to Smooth Criminal. Which they played last night of course, with different choreography.

I am blessed to have grown up in a community that prizes and supports the arts to such a degree. Deb (the creator) was honored after the show last night by the Mayor and many of her former students with a little book of mementos and a huge 6" thick sheet cake. She doesn't look a day older than when I graduated years ago.

Keep on dancing! :)

Yesterday was one of those days where the best laid plans fall apart. Despite that, it was a wonderful evening chatting with Brian in the cool night air (in a hoodie) on the front porch with the cats.

I'm seeing Catwoman as Mame on Sunday http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2009/07/16/lee_meriwether_in_mame_at_waltham/ .

This sounds like it could be very hot http://www.bust.com/blog/2009/07/16/whip-it-whip-it-good.html .

I'm going to be experimenting (again) with making some health and beauty products with the help of http://www.amazon.com/Earthly-Bodies-Heavenly-Hair-Personal/dp/1886101043 . I saw the book suggested in a blog that I like, the reviews on Amazon were pretty good, and I had a gift card to cash in that I was having a hard time figuring out what to do with. This is something I've kind of toyed with here and there, but I think it may be a neat thing to play around with and could potentially save me some money. I've enjoyed knowing what's in my food and my cleaning products, and being able to say the same thing about health/beauty aids is tempting.

Work has begun on planning our annual Woburn Halloween Parade festivities (10/25), which has been one of our largest events of the year and has resulted in some of our coolest large props. This year be on the lookout for an Ewok Village and some Clone Era droids - more details to come!