Friday, July 15, 2011

Boy/Girl

Time flies! Greysen is a little boy already. He loves trains, trucks (BEEEEG trucks), bugs, leaves, sticks, rocks, and everything else that is so stereotypically boys. Cassie bought him fairy wings and he turned them into a butterfly. He loves his dolls and "loveys" when he goes to bed but he prefers to play with the things that go.

Greysen also loves to cuddle, smooch, give OOOOh-AAAAhs (huggs), and smile and say "hi" to everyone that comes within earshot of him. He is as sweet as can be; even gets sensitive when I tell him no in a stern voice or exhibit any sort of displeasure with him. I am NOT suggesting this is a "girl" thing by any means but this is a balance I enjoy to the toughness of his "all-boy" attitude.

I am sensitive to encouraging so many "boy" things in his life. I am not naive to think that my worry is not contributing to the very problem I perceive. But I can't help but wonder if there is something I should be doing to encourage a more balanced approach to the "boy-girl" thing. If anyone continues to read this and want to give some suggestions, please do. I'm all ears. And I'm equally open to the idea that I worry too much about nothing. Wouldn't be the first time.

Do tell ...

Friday, May 21, 2010

Sweet Baby Grey

As promised, I've started a new blog. I won't be posting to this one any longer. Please continue to visit the new one dedicated to my sweet baby Greysen Jakes: www.sweetbabygrey.blogspot.com I'll post much more regularly there.

Adios!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

New Beginnings

Greysen Alexander Jakes was born March 22, 2010 at 5:38 a.m. by c-section after many many hours (days) of labor. We are blessed to have a happy, healthy baby boy that was 7 lbs 6.9 oz and was 20.5 inches long when born. He shrunk to 19.75 inches when he was discharged because of the cone head he sported from being stuck in my pelvic region for so long. And he's already gained a good 2 lbs since birth as he's a voracious eater. We think he's adorable and have decided to keep him.

I am starting a blog that will be dedicated to Greysen and the Jakes family and the milestones we reach in parenting, baby development, and just general daily life. I'm afraid it means that I will likely retire The Brief as I can't imagine keeping up with two blogs given that I can hardly keep up with one regularly. I'll post the name and location of my new blog when I figure out what to call it and write the first post.

Stay tuned ...

Monday, February 22, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA! Your gift is on it's way ... will arrive in a swaddled package around March 20! Love you!

What does this mean?

I dreamt that I was losing all my teeth one right after another the other night. And then I woke up with a really sore jaw.

And the next night I had a dream that I was in line at a buffet with three of my high school girlfriends at our 20-year reunion. We talked to a high school classmate while ordering drinks. I was visibly pregnant so he asked me why I was ordering a mojito and I told him that this kid has been in there for 2 years so he'd be fine to have a little rum deliciousness. And then he told me his wife couldn't join us because she was bowling.

RANDOM.

If I were a dream interpreter, I would tell myself that this just means that I'm going to give birth soon ... in approximately 4 weeks, give or take a few.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Pilates

We were in the position yesterday at pilates where you lie on your back on the machine with your legs straight in the air at a 90 degree angle to your hips squeezing a ring between your ankles . It's never been my favorite position because of the exertion it takes just to be in the position - and THEN you begin the movement of your legs and arms and it becomes increasingly difficult. Now that I'm preggers, even the resting position is increasingly difficult so this one has fast become the bane of my existence during pilates. It was no shocker then, that the instructor pointed at me during class to admonish my slacking effort on maintaining the 90 degree angle I was certain my legs were NOT in.

Except she wasn't pointing at my legs. When I looked down to see what I was doing wrong, I noticed the real subject of her inquisition; my belly. It was protruding in a cone-shaped fashion from the very apex of my roundness. My guess is that the Little Man was trying to heed her instruction to extend his legs at a 90 degree angle to his body inside my belly. And it made a perfect point at the top of my round belly. I tried to push it back down and he pushed right back at me keeping the position much better than I could. I started to laugh and that was all I could take. Each time I would get up, I'd gain composure; lie back down, and he'd point his foot right out my belly again.

I think the Little Man is going to be good at pilates; certainly better than his Mama. And stubborn too; just like his Mama.

Friday, January 22, 2010

No wonder ...

I'm visiting my midwife every two weeks now. But last week, in-between the regularly scheduled two-week visits, I had to visit my midwife during the off-week because of some unexpected and sharp pains that just appeared out of nowhere. Everything turned out fine but per usual, I had to be weighed. I'm supposed to be gaining a pound per week now. And since I didn't gain anything last time I was there (only a week before), I fully expected to have gained a good 2 pounds. I stepped on the scale and *gulp* FOUR MORE POUNDS.

Even in pregnancy, I can't condition myself to welcome all that weight. I can accept that I need to gain weight so that the Little Man can be nourished and develop at a healthy pace, but my mind canNOT get around weight gain at such a rapid pace. I've had 37 years of conditioning myself that rapid weight loss or gain is a BAAA-AAAD thing. Naturally, I exclaimed, "FOUR POUNDS in ONE WEEK. That can't be healthy." The nurse really paid no mind, probably accustomed to this response from new mothers, and put me in a room to ponder the meaning of life after news like that.

When midwife Carol joined me, I asked her about this four pounds. She calmly said, "Let me see your ankles." So, I pulled up my pant legs and sure enough, they were cankles. Swollen almost beyond recognition. And she said, "There's your explanation. You're retaining water." I was actually relieved. Swollen ankles don't hurt anyone.

So, I told this story to a co-worker yesterday while we were on our way back from a work trip in Missoula. I was eating my usual afternoon snack about 2 hours after I'd eaten a salad for lunch. It consisted of a fruit bar and a handful of nuts. This co-worker, when I offered her some nuts, said to me, "Now I see why you've gained 4 pounds in one week."

It's no WONDER women can't accept weight gain even in pregnancy ...