Nola's First Big Outings... and a Library Book to Boot!

Until very recently, Nola's journeys out of the house were an entire family affair, as I was way too anxious to be in the driver's seat and leave my little rear-facing morsel in the back just wondering what happened to her constant attendant. Nick (in the driver's seat), and Nola and I (facing each other in the back) managed to get out and about to a few destinations during the past few months.

Most of our outings tend toward the mundane: Doctor's appointments, scoping out houses much larger than ours, and of course, going to exciting destinations, like, Blockbuster. We did manage to spend one wonderful weekend in Summerland (sadly, no pictures), and we've visited family and a our friends, the Fraziers. It was the Fraziers, in fact, who emboldened me to attempt a trip or two on my own... with Nola ALONE in the backseat.

Let me clarify... she isn't exactly alone. She has all sorts of dangly things (probably choking hazards) to entertain her, along with a mirror (that the guy at the Fire Department told me to remove, but I just couldn't because it was the only way that I could have peace of mind while not being able to stare at her from the backseat), and NPR (which I logically assume is soothing to her, as she listened to it so much in utero), and one of my hands (bent in a Cirque de Soleil like fashion just to touch her head and make sure she's fine.)

So with all of these safety nets, Nola and I have begun to venture into the wilds of Camarillo, and I think we both are getting braver by the day. Our first trip was to the Bread Basket (Aunt Jaimee would be very proud) to get a cake for our friend Melissa Frazier (very wise of her to embolden me to get out of the house). After that, most of our trips have been to the library. I wish that I had some great pictures of the Camarillo Library, but when we're out, I'm usually hand sanitizing everything in our path, so I don't have much time to pause for photos.

Other than my new obsession with hand sanitizing, I've decided to commit myself to curing Nola of her blossoming TV addiction. I figured, rather than turning off the TV altogether (I can't manage all that well not knowing if Antonio Sabato, Jr. is going to end up riding off into the sunset with his mom rather than one of his floozie bachelorettes), I should counter TV time with book time. So, I picked up a book at the library, and wanted to include a little video clip of Nola with her first library book, Let's Dance Little Pookie.

I like to think that all of her sounds are signs of an incredibly accelerated knack for language, but I fear it's just her objecting to the fact that we are not watching the book on TV.

Getting Out of the House, Part Two

When we do get out of the house, we usually trek down a little trail in our neighborhood, which offers much more than a typical suburban sidewalk. We are nestled in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains, so there are all types of wildlife that we've encountered - or at least - come into contact with via paw prints or neighbor accounts. (Remember, Nola and I were probably inside watching some cheesy reality TV instead of encountering wildlife.) Some of the more notable animal "encounters" include:

1. The mountain lion that two neighbors saw scoping out our garage from the driveway.
2. The bear paw prints leading from the woods (and a torn apart trash can) to Nick's truck.
3. The deer that kicked Nick. I suppose this particular scenario needs some explanation: There are deer all over the neighborhood, and we do encounter them on an almost daily basis. One evening, about a year ago, Nick and I were watching The Office, and he had to run out to park his car up the street during commercial break. It took him longer than usual to come back from parking the car, and the show had already resumed. Nick comes limping in from outside, rubbing his shin, and excitedly asking, "What did I miss?" Of course, I ask him, "What happened?" to which he replies, "Oh, I was kicked by a deer." Apparently my husband tried to sneak up behind one of the deer who graze in our neighborhood with the innocent intention of petting it. Needless to say, the deer was not interested.

Of course, my favorite animal encounter includes our family pets. Since the last trimester of the pregnancy, Nick and I would go on evening walks with our dog, Rocky, and our cat, Sid. We all continued to walk together after Nola came on the scene. I have included two pictures, both taken on the neighborhood nature trail, of our little family on a walk. We live in a neighborhood along with a lot of well-meaning retirees who all seem to enjoy commenting on our cat.

The commentary ranges from the informative, "That's some cat!" to the menacing, "You'd better watch out for coyotes!" Either way, we think Sid is pretty impressive. He scampers along with us for about a mile and a half just about every day, yet he still can't seem to lose his belly. Just like me.

Getting Out of the House, Part One

In the Lebanese culture, there is a tradition in which a baby is kept more or less underwraps for the first 40 days of his or her life. Anything that allows me to shelter my baby from a germy germy world is a tradition I am more than happy to embrace.

However, that being said, I sure did get stir crazy by day 39. So, as soon as we could, Nola and I ventured out into the world. Never fear, those of you who are all overzealous about exposing your child to the outdoors and all of the germs therein, it's not like she and I have just been sitting at home watching My Antonio. There is also a brand new season of Real Housewives of Atlanta.

I was looking back at a few pictures that we took during her first few days, and here's one taken from Nola's very first walk. We look back, and yes, we can laugh at ourselves now.

We know that she was born in July, and it was probably not necessary to wear three layers, mittens and a beanie, but we were prepared for whatever this crazy climate had in store for us. We've come a long way since then, and due to the lengthy reading commitment you'd have to make within the confines of one blog entry... I've decided to break this one up. Stay tuned for "Getting Out of the House, Part Two."

Geaux Saints!

Nick, Nola and I are so excited about the Saints season kicking off to a stellar start. Here we have a picture of little Miss Nola in a Drew Brees' jersey that her Auntie Jaimee gave her.

While we're only two games into the season, we already have a game-time ritual that we think gives the Saints lots of luck:

1. The Saints flag is hung before the start of the game.
2. Nick, Nola, Rocky and I all get our respective jerseys on.
3. Rocky goes outside to cope with the fact that he has a jersey on.
4. Mommy feeds and burps Nola.
5. Nola spits up on her jersey and mommy's.
6. The Saints win!

So far, we feel that our little game day ritual has been pretty good luck for our beloved team, so we plan on keeping it up throughout the season.

My Breast Friend

So Nola and my boobs are involved in a very passionate love-hate relationship. Both boobs are equally committed to Nola, while she has an obvious and shameless preference for the left one.

Now to be honest, my boobs have never been equivalent in size, but now -- with all of this preferential treatment -- lefty is much larger. I've had to sneak the right one on her when she least expects it, otherwise it will leak all over the place (which is another gross post-partum side effect that never really registered with me before it actually started happening.)

To complicate this little love triangle, Nola has been pretty abusive to both boobs. She punches them quite frequently -- especially when we are laying down in the evening -- when I'm a little bit less attentive, and allow the boob to sneak away from her mouth. And this punching thing was something that didn't really concern me until I woke up the other morning, and sure enough there was a little bruise on her favorite boob. At first I figured that she may be punching me harder than I thought, but upon closer inspection, it became clearer that the bruise was a hickey!

Now I've assumed all along -- as any parent would -- that she was an advanced child, but this is going a little bit too far. I don't know if Nick and I should sit down and have "the talk" with Nola at this early stage. It does make me wonder if all of those episodes of "Rock of Love Bus" that I watched when I was pregnant somehow seeped through -- and influenced Nola's aggressive and passionate behavior -- especially towards boobs.

Regardless of where she learned it, I do wonder if my boobs are going to make it through a six months to a year of this tumultuous relationship.

After Birth

There's no book entitled "What to Expect Your Body to Look Like After You're Done Expecting," although I think it would be a great addition to Heidi Murkoff's series. I knew that my body wouldn't whip back into the pre-pregnancy state of pudginess, but I didn't anticipate that I would look so much like Mrs. Doubtfire's bodysuit.

I think that my post-partum issues were exacerbated by the fact that I had been prescribed one heck of a strong painkiller, and upon returning home, started working towards earning my keep as a stay-at-home mommy, rather than resting as any sane, stitched-up, sleep-deprived person would do. I would probably still be on the meds (they were great, I have to admit), had it not been for the fact that they were completely constipating... which was the last thing that region of my body needed to deal with at the time.

Speaking of the hinterlands... I've had lots of talks with girlfriends prior to embarking on the baby making journey, but for some reason all of the words of warning ("hemorrhoids," "tearing," "stretch marks...") were deafened by the precious coos of their little babies. It has definitely been worth while, as I glance over at her inquisitive little face, and know that even though my body has been rolled over by Mack Truck, I would do it all over again just to see her smile.

Co-sleepless Nights

We've been home from the hospital for over a week, but are still going through the adjustment of life with our precious Nola.

Overall, she's been an incredible baby -- at least that's what my mom keeps on telling us. She has taken well to breastfeeding, and even gained a full pound in a week. We've only had a few distraught nights of sleeplessness, due to our feeble attempts to figure out what her different cries mean.

It's been so nice having family (my mom has been here since we've been home from the hospital, helping out and taking lots of pictures like the one at the top of the blog entry -- and Nick's family has made us loads of food and helped out around the house) and friends (Sarah & Tony dropped by with bags full of baby goodies & food) and neighbors who have been so good to us. Healing from the labor and delivery has been a longer journey than I anticipated, so all of the help has been such a welcome and wonderful gift.

We've been co-sleeping (I know, Erin, counter to your warnings of 'No exit strategy!') so we get a close-up view of her little face each morning (the picture to the right has been my vantage point for the past few days),and the peace of mind that she's breathing and content (something Nick and I both seem to be checking on regularly -- evidenced by our bleary-eyed whack-a mole-styled awakenings throughout the night). However, our recent doctor's visit came with a strong warning against it (due to a bad experience he had with another patient), so we transitioned into a bedside "arms reach co-sleeper" bassinet last night -- and probably had the first unfettered two hours of sleep in a row since Nola was delivered.

We're certainly learning as we go, but thought we'd share a few nuggets of wisdom gained in the 11 days of little Miss Nola's life:

1. Putting on a onesie doesn't have to take two and a half hours -- although, it usually seems to when I'm involved in the process.
2. Saving an umbilical cord SOUNDS a lot cooler than it actually is.
3. Not every cry is gas or hunger -- sometimes Nola seems to be protesting the fact that Nick and I are really inexperienced at this whole parenting thing... but I think she knows that we're working really hard on it!