lenora_rose | Lengthy Babbling about Baby and other such things

I've decided, as I already said to one friend, that I'm a bit more grateful to the Christmas season than I was when faced with it; I wouldn't have been out and about with Joseph to nearly so many peoples' places so soon if I hadn't been forced to be, and I'd still be taking teeny baby steps towards a more social life, and I'd have been much more restricted by my anxieties over the matter. This is good, as there are at least two events in the next two days, one of them my baby shower.

Christmas went by in a whirl of visits and people visiting; it actually got to feeling like the season once we'd been to couple more parties. The visits out of the house generally went well. For Iulianna's party, and at the family dinner on the day proper (which we had this time in one of my uncles' conference spaces at his work, as even with only 24 of the 30+ of us who could be there, we really have been straining peoples' homes.) he spent most of his time asleep in various peoples' arms, and the rest feeding. Everyone thinks he's adorable, it seems, but then, he is a baby...

New Year's we did our traditional cabin trip with 6 other friends, to Tomaas' parents' cabin. We meant to be there only one overnight, since, well, baby. But New Year's Day was blowing snow, and by the time we were even considering it, it was late enough in the afternoon that by the time we'd have packed, it would have been getting dark, and Colin was uncomfortable with the combination. And we'd overpacked enough for the baby for another day. So I got to play board games (even if much of the time someone else had to move my pieces) and watch tv shows with friends, and talk with people I haven't seen nearly enough. If anything, it was easier than some of the evening visits, because all the most essential amenities of home were present. Though he was a little fussy. Everyone swore they didn't mind, but I know his crying bothers *me*.

The days between were admittedly deliberately not social, with only one visit from a friend, and one from mom (That's rare). I spent much of those trying to get him to mostly breastfeed and not bottle-feed, and at this point, he almost never gets formula, so clearly I did things right. OTOH, he also spent a LOT more time each of those days feeding, leaving me somewhat trammelled in place. (I'd made it my resolution, after so many days of activity and visits, that I would spend Boxing Day in my nightshirt. I hadn't *intended* that to be quite so literally true, mostly I'd meant I hoped to catch up on some sleep and nap every time Joseph did, but I refuse to feel guilty about it.) Next thing is to get him to feed more intensely and thus stop for longer, which also may be working, but is pretty new.

Now my mother-in-law is here for a few days, so she can finally meet her grandson (and help out).

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I don't usually make New Year's resolutions because the calendar new year usually doesn't coincide with my personal new year shift, which most often seems to happen in October/November (Though the last two years have had a disturbing trend of a similar sharp - and usually nasty - change in February/March that makes me want to look back over the last few years before that and see if that's a new trend or a long-time one.) And well, November 2011 didn't exactly undo that trend... And all the sorts of plans I can have resolutions *about* (health, etc) I'd been making some time ago. (I have a good idea about when I'd like to start going to work out, for instance, provided there be someone to watch Joseph, since my most likely gym partner, mom, is also my most likely babysitter.)

But I did decide in the last few days that there's one thing I need to do for myself. And the insane (good?)* weather of the last few days is encouraging. Which is: once a day, I'm trying to get out for a short walk, even if it's just around a couple of blocks. I can take Joseph with me for some of these in the Snugli (Or, now, the stroller, though it's a BIG stroller**, so I'd like to save it for longer trips), if he's insisting on being too wakeful to tuck in to sleep and leave under someone else's watch. Two days of this has already felt pretty good. (I also need to remind myself to rock in the rocker, and remember I can stand and walk about and even do some leg stretches while burping baby... but those have been ongoing vague health maintenance tricks. And I've joked that the need to wash the diapers so often at least means I climb a lot of stairs).
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So i got most of that rewrite of the closing scene of Soldier done on the trip to the cabin,a nd a bit more since. I think I have a hundred words or at most two hundred to go, but I'm not completely sure that those two hundred should be. And I figured out some answers to some earlier scenes, so with that, I'm once again poking through and doing edits and rewrites. This is not wholly bad, but I do think I should set it aside and let it digest a bit before I get serious in that line.

But now I seem to have started working on Labyrinth - starting with minor tweaks as I reread to get the gist back, but I'm already forming bits of the next significant scene. It seems like a good palate cleanser, anyhow...

Little Joseph is finally waking. That's over 3 hours' nap in midday. I hope I'm right that he'll still be good for a longish sleep tonight, even if it starts on the later side. (His long sleeps usually start around or after midnight regardless.)
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* It's been at or above freezing all week. And hasn't been much worse than that for, well, most of the winter so far. Snow is thin like early to mid December. This is fine for me, it's a major plus not needing a winter coat with the Snugli, but... insane by most other standards. Especially as this is not a wholly unique trend over the last few years.

** My mother in law got a supremely good deal from a friend with now-toddlers, but on a *double* stroller. As pointed out, the second seat can be used for groceries or diaper bags or the like, but still... not planning to have the next baby that close to this one.