Dear Yoga

Dear Yoga,

I miss you. And, I'm coming back, it's--it's just--I've been busy... but I haven't forgotten about you, no. My look is slouchy these days, at best, and Body feels it (Body gets proper noun status for all that hard work, giving me and Lee a drug/intervention-free, QUICK birth, thank you, Body!). "Little" Lee grew 7 inches, and doubled his birthweight in 4 months (as of yesterday, love you Baby, you're a third of the way through your first year, weee!).

That's 120 days I've spent away from your warm glow, Yoga. Though I am experiencing the warmest glow of all :) I know you understand, and forgive, but I'll never take that fact for granted, Yoga. I need your help. The non-stop nursing and baby-wearing are taking their toll--the slouch unnerves (love you, Ergobaby, you are the most comfortable baby-carrier out there ever). Time to get my happy-spine back.

That's where you come in, Yoga. I'm coming back running to you. No, this is not just some manifesto! I've been gone too long, I'm paying the price, and I'm coming home. I know you missed me too, but that's cool, you don't have to say anything. You know, Mr. Lee is a baby yogini already, I can tell. What fun we'll have. So, Yoga, look for me on a mat near you, coming soon~~~

<3

Ain't That A Kick In The Throat

It's a good thing steel-toed boots aren't fashionable for babies, or else I'd need a new wind pipe. Lee just ninja'd my neck full-force. This was a first, foot-to-throat action, though he's no stranger to givin' mama the boot... One place he's fond of kicking is my uterus-ovaries zone, which has me wondering if he might be trying to tell me he wants to be an only child. He does this when I sleep-nurse him, until he settles down and just goes with the flow (pardon the pun). Gotta say, kicks were more bearable when coming from the inside (and my baby wasn't a hefty 15 pounds!).

All jokes aside, the kicking is a good sign. It means Lee's strengthening the muscles in his legs and feet so he can use them to walk. And speaking of walking, he totally wants to and believes that he can, it's adorable; he stands with my support and looks beyond thrilled, then paws the ground and expects to just magically start walking, and when nothing happens he looks slightly perplexed then plops down onto his (cute, cute) little butt. I actually dreamed recently that he could walk at this age, it was quite funny to see him that tiny and ambulatory.

But, yeah, what a relief glad babies don't walk this young.

<3

Seize The Nap

When Lee naps, it's go-time. For the record, he isn't napping now; he's being fantastically wonderful, squirming and smiling approvingly, as if to say "you go, Mama, write your lil' heart out". I swear he knows I'm about to begin my first ever blog-post, and he likes it. He hasn't got the same tolerance for me taking a pee-break, but if I can get this post off the ground, well, I consider myself blessed (*cooing with delight*).

Whoever said "sleep when the baby sleeps", was cut off before ending the statement with: "after you've finished everything else", misleading millions of women, everywhere. I'm a firm believer in sleeping when you are tired exhausted dead (kidding!). Sure, rest is fundamental, but it isn't valued much in our society, so we're all working it, overtime, especially mamas.

Whether it's flossing, bathing, eating, emailing, cleaning, endless laundry-doing, WRITING... it's all happening (or at least started) during a Lee nap. I like to call it "napthyme" just because. Sometimes I really do sleep when he is sleeping, it is just... there are higher items on my to-do list (you know, that dreadful post-it over there that isn't even sticky anymore it's so old, staring me down menacingly?).

He is 3.5 months old and I've painted my nails(!). Lacquering was, in the moment, more desirable than sleep, what can I say? Blame it on the hormones. Sometimes I really, really watch an episode of Mad Men, all the way through, or I cook fun vegan concoctions--"intuitive cooking", I call it.

So, here's to the nap, something I cherish. Whether joining in the slumber or not, I am grateful, I love my Lee, this little miracle that came through me, and I SEIZE the nap! Then, when stopped dead in my tracks sometime later (anywhere from 5 minutes to 2.5 hours--c'mon 2.5!), I know I'll have a lighter heart with which to tend le bebe.

<3