Now that I’m feeling better again, I figured I’d pop on and give some updates about our not-so-petite sir.  Since last Thursday, he has been rolling over from back to tummy, but is still stymied by the tummy-to-back roll.  I have gone into his room at night to scoop him up after hearing his muffled cries, only to find him face down on his mattress, unable to right himself.  Stoli, who has recently begun sleeping in the crib with Holden, looks on with indifference.  Here are Holden and Stoli, united in feline-infant solidarity:

Note the beautiful blanket that was made by our dear friend Sarah.  It’s been keeping Holden toasty and warm at night, thank you!

Holden is getting grabby.  With almost everything.  We have to watch our dinner plates and our hot cups of coffee as Holden seems to be especially interested in things that we are eating or drinking.  I’d like to wait another month before we begin solids, although he is beginning to manifest all of the hallmark attributes of an infant gearing up for real food.  He still isn’t sitting up on his own and I would like him to be able to do that before we begin solids in earnest.  He is currently in a transitional stage with sitting; he doesn’t enjoy laying down on the floor and would prefer to be propped up where he can see more of the action.  He can sit unassisted for VERY brief periods of time before he simply topples over.  Holden is babbling more and more and is using new phonemes all the time.  “Ahb” is his new favorite sound.  As in “Ahb-ahb-ahb-ahb…..”  He is also beginning to try turning the pages of his books when I read to him.  More typically though, he is simply trying to grasp the page well enough to pry it from my hands so he can chew on the pages.  I try to have him “assist” me with turning the pages, so that he can get some more practice with that type of eye-hand coordination.  And I’ve also noticed that since I’ve begun to feel better, he seems like a happier baby, as if my moods and feelings are contagious only to him.  Indeed, he seemed to have picked up on my listless reading of “Surprise Surprise” and feigned enthusiasm while playing with him.  Holden has also been nursing more often lately, a signal that he is likely going through another growth spurt.  He seems to be nursing every hour again at times, and up to 3 or sometimes 4 times each night.  He has gone through phases like this before, so I am relieved to know that this probably won’t even last a week.  He is wearing mostly 12-month outfits now, and has graduated from his small diaper covers.  I recently ordered him several new diaper covers from Bummis.  Originally, I was going to replace the smaller Imse Vimse covers with larger ones because they are very cost-effective and contain messes pretty well.  But then I realized that although the Bummis are a few bucks extra per cover, I would save more money in the long run by purchasing them because Holden can wear them until he reaches 30 lbs., whereas the Imse Vimse covers would only be good for up to 26 lb.  Ah, the economics of diapering your baby….

Here is Holden modeling one of his new Bummis diaper covers.  I know he’s a boy, but I couldn’t resist getting him a diaper cover with flowers on it, a move that may engender resentment and embarrassment should I ever show this picture to any of his future girlfriends:

Other notable events of the past week (besides the election, which will eventually receive its own post) included the celebration of Rob’s birthday.  Rob’s brother Steve and our good friends A & S came over for lamb dinner.  A & S supplied us with their signature cheesy polenta dish.  The capstone experience of the birthday celebration was my amazing completely homemade pineapple-upside down cake:

I know there are 3 candles pictured here, but that really doesn’t mean anything.  There are only 3 candles here because that’s all we had left.  Rob didn’t turn a multiple of three or anything like that.  In fact, I think he is in prime number territory for this current trip around the sun…

In other news, I am completely in my old clothes again.  And because my old clothes suck, I decided to reward myself by buying new ones.  I have many, many shirts and sweaters that fit one of two categories:  large, amorphous pieces of fabric shaped like a torso with tubes resembling sleeves, and very, very short form-fitting shirts that ride up my back and expose a 2-inch swath of skin between the top of my pants and the bottom of my shirt, which drives me absolutely crazy when it is 2 degrees outside.  I took Holden shopping with me this week, which luckily for me, he finds to be an agreeable activity.  We seek out the handicapped-accessible dressing rooms where I can comfortably sidle the stroller next to the dressing room mirror, providing Holden the perfect opportunity to smile uncontrollably at that handsome baby returning his grin in the mirror.  I purchased a couple pairs of pants, three sweaters, and lots of socks.  I got a great deal on everything too, as my inner bargain-hunter went into overdrive.  I still haven’t weighed myself since August, but for me, getting my weight down to a certain number was unimportant.  I just wanted to be roughly the same size as I was before I got pregnant, with a return of my former energy and flexibility.  I think I have finally met that goal.

I need to take a break from blogging, and well, everything for a bit until I get on my feet again.  I have been so unbelievably sick for over a week now.  I have a lot to say about the election, but because of its tremendous importance, I wanted to wait until I have the energy to craft a coherent post.  In the meantime, I have applied for two more jobs this week.  One was for a freelance writing job, for which I’ve already been turned down (admittedly, that one was a stretch).  The other is a scientific position with a company right outside of Philly.  Rob and I joked that we’d consider moving to PA now that it’s gone blue:)  Actually, the blue state/red state break-down has nothing to do with our decisions, but it’s fun to joke about it anyway.  Now that those job apps are out of the way, I need to focus on getting better.  I went to the doctor yesterday and he told me it needs to go away on its own, and that it would probably take a couple weeks.  Ugh.  In the meantime, I’m in seriously miserable territory trying to recover while also taking care of H.  And yesterday was Rob’s birthday—I ran myself ragged getting his birthday dinner together, but in the end, I pulled it off.  Hey, he deserves it.  Happy Birthday Papa!  I’ll tune in again when I’m feeling better.  Till then, peace!

of the election is coming through our Internetz!  No need for TV on this occasion!  And there are no commercials!  I am going to tempt fate and ditch the hot tea in favor of an alcoholic beverage…

This has been a less than stellar week.  I am hoping that the election makes up for it.

On Friday, I missed a talk at the university that I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to go to, because I couldn’t find a babysitter.  The talk was relevant to some of the research I have done in the past, and I was very curious to see what sort of data the speaker was going to present.  In addition, we ended up bagging our Halloween plans at the last minute.  We had initially planned to go to a party hosted by one of Rob’s co-workers.  I had been looking forward to it all week, as I left the house only 3 times between Monday and Thursday—once to drop Rob off at work, once for H’s appt, and once for dinner at A & S’s.  H had not been feeling well all week and needed the rest, so we just stayed home for the majority of the week.  Of course, I was going a little nuts being cooped up in the house.  I actually welcomed the opportunity to do a survey over the phone just so I’d have someone to talk to, and then 7 minutes into the survey, realized what a stupid idea that was.  On Friday after I applied for the Delaware job, we went for an impromptu walk to Viva Espresso to meet our buddy Sarah and her little boy, Harper, for coffee.  On the way there, I was stopped by the local news for an interview about magnet schools.  I provided what I considered to be a cogent and well-articulated response to the reporter’s question, but I ended up not being included in the final news story—instead, they aired interviews with two moms who were like, “I don’t really know anything about it, but I guess I’m for it…”  Yeah.  After the moot news interview, we went on our little coffee date, and as I sat there drinking a latte (which I allowed myself only because we came in well under our grocery/lunch/coffee budget of $100 for the week), I started to feel sick.  My throat felt sore, my body ached, and I just wanted to take a nap.  Uh oh.  I mean, didn’t I just get over this thing a few weeks ago?  There was a time when I would go YEARS without getting so much as a sore throat or sniffle, and now I’m sick twice in the span of a month.  I guess it goes with having a little infant around.  We seem to be passing the same mild cold back and forth.  So, we bagged our Halloween plans.  Instead, we watched an episode of Firefly and drank homemade hot tea.  Saturday night was no better.  After a lame day of doing nothing, we watched The Crow (OMG, that movie is *so* dated now), ate popcorn, and drank more homemade hot tea.  Sunday included chores and living vicariously through other people’s Halloween pictures on Flickr, browsing the sets of Sarah Palin look-alikes accessorized with the not-so-subtle political commentary that is a hunting rifle and some guy dressed up like a bear.  I miss Halloween.  I missed it last year because I was too busy gagging over the smell of my clothes, my own skin, and any food we had in the house (gotta love morning sickness that lasts all day).  The year before that I was too busy with work to really do anything for Halloween.  And forget celebrating it when you are in graduate school—with the exception of the very fun “Welcome to Hell!” party that was hosted by one of my graduate school chums (I believe in 2003).  Halloween is a great holiday, actually the BEST holiday, because everyone can participate.  And you can become whoever or whatever you want for a day.  You can escape the depressing reality that our economy is weak and unemployment is high.  You can escape the three-ring circus that has been the presidential campaign.  You can take a shower, brush your teeth, and comb your hair.  You can probably glean why I would be disappointed to miss the night out.  

This morning we walked up to the local elementary school and voted, an excursion that was too brief, but was rejuvenating nonetheless.  Everyone was smiling and hopeful, except for the crazy “Nader Lives” guy who was parading his “Arrest Obama” signage.  When I got home, my throat started throbbing even more.  I made some homemade hot tea, checked my e-mail, and found that my manuscript was rejected by the journal before it was even sent out for review.  Apparently, the editors didn’t think it was suitable for the journal.  So now it’s time to send it elsewhere.  I am also halfway through the application process for a crappy part-time job as “Scientific Editor” which is a glorified title for the person who painstakingly corrects the broken English of Japanese scientists.  Applicants were reminded in the “editing sample” portion of the application that evaluating the  “scientific merit is another question and is not your job.”  How depressing.  Apparently I am now applying for jobs that don’t require my scientific input, and probably only require a course in medical terminology at the local community college.  On top of being sick, I am feeling down about my job prospects.  I know that things will turn around, but sometimes it’s hard to keep things in perspective.  To end this post with a positive note, I will say that one of the best things that happened in the past 7 days, was that I finally got to pack away my maternity pants.  I now fit into almost all of my pre-pregnancy clothes (some are still a bit tight).  This makes me feel like I am making progress in at least one facet of my life.  Oh, and the other positive thing, is that (thanks to Brooke and her recommendations on free knitting videos), I can finally cast on.  Yes, I just admitted that I have spent hours learning how to cast on.  How can it be that I have no trouble putting in sutures, but I can’t knit to save my life?  Hopefully these positives will be eclipsed in awesomeness by some decisive election results….I don’t think I’ve ever wished I had a television in my home so much in my life….