Core & Rind

Has it really been that long since I last wrote here? I have not been terribly motivated to write or spend time online. Life after grad school has been so much fun and Baby Pit is officially the world’s funniest little boy. I love him so so much.

Anyway, I promise to get to the last few posts I am putting up here and will soon introduce you to our new family site. Until then a wrap up of the last 9 days.

- We moved our bed out of the bedroom and into the living room. I feel like I am in college again….BUT it seems to have served its purpose.

- We moved onto night-time sleep training and I am pleased to report it works! However, it was no fun and the day approach was not really working so we had to ramp it up a notch. For three nights in a row now he has slept from 7pm-2am without crying or fussing so we are back to where we were at the end of month three and that is all I am asking for for now. We are going to remain in a holding pattern until at least month 6 when we may drop a feeding. Sadly, I have not gotten anymore sleep than usual since I am having some attachment and engorgement issues, I think once I get used to the new schedule it will be fine.

- I met with a mom’s group I found through Meetup.com. It was a lot of fun and I think I will go to another event tomorrow. The conversation never really moved beyond breastfeeding, sleep training, etc., etc., but it was so nice to have some company. I really want some social interaction that isn’t completely baby-based but that will come when I get to know these women better or I make an attempt to meet non-mothers. Until then I got some child development books that I hope will give me some intellectual stimulation until I can find it other ways.

- And on that note I am trying to figure out what the next step will hold for me employment wise. I am 90% sure I do not want to do a traditional postdoc but instead I want to move into administration, advocacy or outreach position. All of which pay better and have better hours. What I want to do exactly though I honestly have no idea. Would love advice on how and where to start looking from those of you that have left the academic track. Next month after our short trip (see below) I will actually start doing more than just thinking about working. Until then I am just trying to enjoy my baby and get more sleep.

-Sunday we watched and participated in the LA gay pride parade! We marched with a gay physician’s group until it got too hot and overwhelming for Baby Pit then we moved to the shade on the sidelines and finished the parade out. He did really well though and people were so appreciative of us bringing him along to teach tolerance, love and equality to our child at an early age. It makes me so proud to think about it. Can’t wait for the next event we can bring out little activist to!

-Baby Pit starting eating (a little) solid food. Since he doesn’t need the calories (meaning I am providing him with enough still) I have decided to shun rice cereal which is basically just empty calories. Instead we have tried fruits which have some nutritive value (applesauce and bananas). I am not sure how much actually gets into his stomach and he is not sure what to think of the whole thing at all. The faces he makes are too funny while you feed him. I think we will try some pureed veggies next. As long as he is gaining consistently with breastmilk I am no hurry to get most of his food to come from solids.

-Tomorrow he is 5 months old!! When did he get so old??! Such a cliche but time flies with a baby. Not that I am complaining, I enjoy him more and more everyday. On thurs he goes in for his 5 mos well baby visit, any guesses on how much he will weigh or how tall he will be?

-Next week we head to Detroit for the wedding of Mr. Rind’s brother and my fabulous soon-to-be sister-in-law. I can’t wait for Baby Pit to meet the extended family…I think he will “knock ‘em dead”.

-And I promised myself I wouldn’t be such a sloppy writer here once my dissertation was done but honestly there are so many other things I would rather do than proofread. Not to mention I just did more of that than I ever ever want to do again with my dissertation….so I think everyone is going to have to suffer by reading my spelling and syntax errors and wordy prose.

-Finally, a picture of Baby Pit’s new “Stinkface”. It cracks me up everytime he makes it. Not sure what it means or where it came from but I love it. And yes that is banana on his chin.