gaga

ok. so, i just want to say that having a child, working full time and going to school full time kinda makes it hard to update a blog. and have a life. i mean, there is only so much i can write about school, work, baby and lack of sleep, right?

1. school. is kewl. seriously, i am in thesis, and gearing up for my schematic review. the first review went without a hitch, but there is so much work to be done for this baby. i am feeling a little talent free and at 2 am i start to draw trees in rooms, but i am sure it will work out. i met with a panel member today and am feeling, well, like i have a lot to accomplish. so i'm keeping on, keeping on.

2. work. meh. i mean, happy to still be employed, but there is a bit of drudgery. but hey. still employed. i am looking forward to the end of school (oct!!) when i might have my brain back. and maybe the work will be better.

3. baby. kaiser is huge. and chatty kathy. and fun. running around everywhere. i can not believe i have an 18 mo. old! its weird. but great. except for the blinding exhastion and school imposed joint custody. he is a happy kid, though, and we are lucky that he is so easy breezy.

there have been fun moments here and there, and lots of development on the kaiser side of things, but basically max and i have been working like dogs, and parenting like, well, single parents. i will be done with school in october and max about year later. ooof. i will try to be better abour posting.

my next exciting adventure? seeing lady gaga tomorrow at the house of blues. i am sure i will be the oldest one there.....its a shame i cant find my rhinestone sunglasses.

whoa. seriously.

so, what. i know its only been like 8 months since my last post. so? what do you want!

things in beantown are lovely. moving right along. fast. work is work, school is coming to a close (one more semester of classes before thesis! YAY!) and the kai is growing at a standard rate. he says mama and dada, but doesnt exactly associate those words with his parents. he says hi, but not on command. he cant waive yet, which is disappointing.

a few days ago, on the t, a man and woman got into a fight. strangers screaming at each other within 2 feet of one another. yeesh. i can imagine stabbing fellow passengers on the train when they 1. sit with their legs extremely far apart and 2. make love to the poles on which everyone must cling to in order to stay upright. but i would never actually stab anyone - crazy canadians!

for kicks a few more pics

the christ, the baby and impending doom

first of all, t'was the kaiser's first christmas. i believe he was sleeping, or being fed or held by some family member. that's really what he does best. but, he is much more alert now, so he spends more time awake. during this time, i desperately try to prove how much he loves me by getting him to smile, or giggle. oh, and giggling is new. and i also found out he really likes it when i try to "eat" his feet.


so, more about the baby? well, today we decided on a caregiver, re: second mommy. see, i sort of wish i could stay at home, but i also miss my job a little and we definitely need money(sidenote: apparently, at my office, working 20 hrs a week during your last months of pregnancy and then taking 2 1/2 months off of work = promotion and more money). but, i will honestly say that in a perfect world i would totally stay at home, at least for the first two years. instead, i have found doris, the kid's second mommy. which he will probably love more. but she is super bubbly and sweet and has been child watching for 17 years, has lovely children, etc. i tried to check out day care centers, but they totally sucked and were run by women named gloria who smelled like cigarettes and sadness.


so, i am trying to get myself together so i can go back to work on the 14th. and get back to designing. and crying at my desk.


however, tomorrow is a big day - its shot time. oooh, man. kaiser is so going to hate that. i am going to try really hard not to flip. hopefully, he will forget about this terrible day. but probably not. after all, second mommy never made him get shots.

the important one

so, its true. i had a child on oct. 19, 2007, at 10:42 in the morning. after approx. 24 hours of labor, i had kaiser via c-section. and let me tell you, he is gonna hear about it for the rest of his life.

however, he is pretty cute. he looks pretty concerned in this photo, however.

and how is parenting, you ask? well, let me just say that at this stage in his life, his needs are pretty simple: eat, sleep, keep clean, keep warm. thankfully, those are standards of living that i can currently accommodate. and its pretty much the happiest i have been in a long time, which is completely weird. but whats not to like? eat, sleep, watch oprah? i can do that. and its really the first time in years that i have really slowed down and had so much personal time. not that its always a breeze - any time he cries or is fussy, it completely stresses me out (dont worry i dont shake the baby). and sometimes it takes a million tries to figure out what is he trying to accomplish with the crying. but he is doing stuff like smiling (big accomplishment) and holding his head up. when i sing him lullabies he ooohs and aaahs right along with me. it kills me. and poor max. because compared to the important one, he is kinda chopped liver right now. but i am sure he thinks the same of me.

october sky

with the weather being so gray, rainy and cold, it is easy not to feel too motivated to do much other than watch oprah, which is what i do now, since i only work 20 hours a week. and make pumpkin pie like i did last night. i am already gearing up to don the official housewife uniform of a juicy couture sweatsuit. just call me nancy. or maybe gloria (only if i start smoking menthol lights).
i was thinking that i haven't quite come to terms with being a wife, and now i am going to add mother to the list. do you think 'host organism' is as easy to say as mama?
yeah, i thought by now those maternal instincts would kick in - the only instincts i have are to guilt the child for all he has put me through. my mother will be happy to know that i am going to carry on the proud tradition of jewish (s)mothering.
ooh, and i recently purchased a book on parenting. its schtick is all about attachment parenting. oof. because shit like that is now a part of my vocabulary. basically it is all about meeting the child's needs on their terms. um, isn't that parenting in general? apparently, some like to put their new child on a schedule, and will do things such as let them cry when they are hungry because it isn't feeding time yet. the parents make a schedule of feeding, sleeping, etc that is convenient for them. i mean, i may only be 9 months pregnant but that sort of thing already pisses me off. children happen to be a bit inconvenient. that's the problem with having them. but making a child cry for hours doesn't seem to be a great way to aid their development. yeah kids need to be held, a lot, and they need to be fed when they are hungry, and sleep when they are tired. i am sure its going to be exhausting and plenty annoying. but hey, i am the one making the decision to have this kid, right?
and in non baby news....eh. nothing. its pretty much waiting for baby. and thinking about baby. baby. BABY!

so, about that

so, there he is.

i am only posting this picture, because honestly, it is the first normal looking ultrasound picture that i have.

the first was a blob. the second was skeletor and the others have been just weird, funny images of baby parts.

but this, this kind of looks like a kid. with max's nose, i am afraid.

i should also quietly mention that he is almost 8 pounds. which means he should cease to exist in my abdomen, and really starting living among other humans in the real world. gah. 8 pounds!

the snapping of liederhosen

tomorrow night is harpoon's oktoberfest. for those non-bostonians out there, it is a party held at harpoon's local brewery, and it is a delightful evening of ridiculously strong and very fresh beer. and hot dogs. and liederhosen.
last year was a mighty wreck of drunkosity. there were men in liederhosen. my friend snapped their liederhosen like they were rubber bands. it was amazing. sadly, will my impending labor and major pregnosity, i don't think i can go. i have been told that through the miracle of technology, i will be sent video of all the highlights throughout the night. i don't know if it will be the same....
have i admitted to my 20 hr work week? yeah, i am only work half days now, with fridays off. this is a luxury i have not experienced in years. and i suppose it might do me well to relax these next couple of days. because soon, and don't think i am not panicking because i am, i will soon have a child that will allow zero relaxation. maybe. all i know is that when my boss came back from his paternity leave (two weeks at home with the new kid) he looked like a mack truck had run over his body a zillion times. oof.
i hope to soon have some non child news. or rather, non child-centric news. because i really don't want to be THAT kind of family, where all we do is talk about the kid. except that is all i do. hm. don't ever hesitate to tell me to shut the hell up.
one more item - the topsfield fair is this weekend. if you think for one moment that i would miss such exciting activities as pig racing, well you are sadly mistaken.