Winter Blast

Because of this, completing the last 20 miles of my 2010 quest is going to be a bit tricky. I ran during the storm but since then things have iced over, making it impossible to go with the stroller for sure and even dicey to go by myself. And forget about driving to the Y. I tried a few steps yesterday and there just wasn't enough safe ground to stay on but hopefully today's higher temperatures will make some of it melt and I hope to get out there later today when J gets home. Also tricky is the fact that J's mom passed away on Christmas eve so this week is full of family arriving and memorial-type activities. Merry Christmas to us indeed.

Happy Holidays

We are very fortunate to be celebrating our first Christmas in our new house and with our new baby but this season will be a bit tainted by the fact that the girls lost a paternal great-grandfather they will never meet last month and their paternal grandmother won't be out of the hospital for Christmas, and sadly, maybe not ever.

I guess it's good they're too young to understand.

Nadia was very excited to see Santa this year but made it very clear only "Dozay" would be sitting on his lap and that she would be standing next to them. As soon as she saw that there were little chairs to be had, well, she was sold on that idea. But as you can see even with the chair there was some trepidation. I don't blame her. I was afraid of bearded men as a kid....well, still am actually.

I Hate Dogs

Did I mention I hate dogs? "Big dogs, little dogs, black and white dogs." Why? Because they have chased me my whole life, equally as a child and as an adult. And then we lived in the countryside in a country (Italy) that doesn't condone birth control for adults, let alone animals. So there were strays. Strays that howled through the night, stealing my sleep, and then followed me during the day, stealing my outdoor running opportunities. And forget about walking at night. That is when the packs of hungry dogs roamed freely. To make matters worse I would see my Italian neighbours adopt puppies and kittens and when they started to grow away from being puppies and kittens, or their children would tire of them, they would no longer have these animals. I can only assume they let them back in to the wild. Nice, huh?

Why this rant now? Well, I have come across 4 different dogs in my 2 mile-radius neighbourhood in the past two weeks that have been unattended. The first two were roaming aimlessly (one even chased me for a bit, of course), the third chased me as his owner stood there and watched and then had the balls to say, "you're ok." (No, I am no ok, your dog is CHASING ME.) And then the fourth, today, someone had caught and asked me if I knew to whom he belonged. Um, Satan perhaps?

Sure, there are some dogs that belong to friends that I can tolerate, mostly because the friends have enough respect to not let them get all up in my business. Though dogs do seem to have an uncanny ability to sense those who do not like them and then try to get all up in their business.

And don't say to me, "don't worry, he doesn't bite." Yes he does. Given the right set of variables, all. dogs. bite. That is their instinct. Would I put my infant on someone's lap (especially someone who does not have children and does not seem to like them) and say, "don't worry, she doesn't barf." No. Because she does barf. That is what babies do. Just as dogs bite, babies barf. That. Is. What. They. Do.

So people. Secure your canines. Because I am about to program animal control into my cell phone. A cell phone I bring on my runs with my two small children. Runs that shouldn't be wrought with the fear of being chased by your "best friends." We're not in Sicily anymore.

Vaccinazis

So I got a recorded message call yesterday from a "shall remain nameless" military installation saying it had come to their attention that my child might not have been vaccinated. Immediately I thought, "how do they know Nadia hasn't had her chicken pox shot yet?!!" (She's up to date on all of her other shots but I'm hoping she'll get the c. pox the old-fashioned way, but with everyone being vaccinated these days it's unlikely so she'll probably end up getting the shot eventually as immunity, one way or the other, is required to go to school.) The message then said, if in fact the child is immunized, press blah blah, or if you have questions call blah blah, and I'm all like, no thanks, and hung up. As I scratched my head wondering how big brother had managed to keep track of this minor indiscretion I suddenly realized that I have another kid. A kid that just turned 2 months old. Whoa. Calm down nancies! The clock just struck 2 months, like, 4 days ago. Seriously?!!! And yes, she's scheduled to have said shots tomorrow (which, ironically, was the first available appt. they could give me.) Which is now today. After the worst night of sleep in a month. 6-8 hour block you say? HA!

2 Months

Here's our huge little Snugs. At 6 weeks she was approximately in the 75th percentile for both height and weight and is easily in 3 month clothes, especially pants. She is a very sweet and easy baby and I can't believe how lucky we are. Whenever she is faced with a situation she is not crazy about like being in the carseat in the stroller or car she squawks out a couple of protests and then promptly 'goes to sleep.' I put that last phrase in quotation marks because as soon as the car or stroller stops she yells out and/or wakes up if it's a permanent stop. I call it the fake sleep and yes, I'll take it. She has real sleeps throughout the day though it is getting harder to get her to take them so fortunately she likes contraptions such as the bouncy chair and swing. This love also allows me a lot more baby-free moments than I had with Nadia which enables me to, you know, take. care. of. Nadia. and get stuff done around the house, like shower. I guess you get what you need, even if you can't always figure out why you needed it.

Night sleeping is getting better - she sleeps 6-8 hours, feeds for 1/2 hour and then is back down for 2-3 hours, depending on what time Mooper bounds into our room. Yes, Snugs is still sleeping in our room, though fortunately since the end of the first month, not in our bed, but in her bassinet. As was the case with N, after a few necessary weeks of co-sleeping, finally neither she nor I was sleeping so it was clear it was time for her to have her own bed. I probably won't move her out of our room until she's 3 months old. For many reasons I see the first 3 months as the 4th trimester and am waiting until she's that old for a few things. Like going to the Y and leaving her with childwatch. I'm just weird like that.

After surviving the first few weeks I realized that that time with Nadia is a blur. There are many things I couldn't do and don't remember due to a combination of having a c-section and then being on percocet. Ah, the haze of druggy days! Anyway, I'm glad to have a clearer memory this time around of just how hard it is to take care of a newborn! It will definitely prevent me from doing it again. Snip snip J;)

In fitness news, I am running like a crazy person, trying to get to 1000 miles by the end of the year. I'm averaging 5 junky miles a day, most of which are with the double stroller, and my long run is up to 7 miles. As a result my legs are very stiff (goodbye pregnancy loosening hormones!) and I feel close to injury. Yeah, I'm stupid stubborn like that. Come January I plan to start running smarter and go back to the Y to do masochist, I mean, strength training classes. I try to do weights on my own but rarely have the time or energy to do what I need to keep my arms from looking like sausages. Seriously, my arms looked better 9 months pregnant than they do now. Or maybe they just seemed that way in proportion. I do know that my body likes to be doughy during lactation but I'm hoping that lots of work will lay the foundation for a toned body once I finish breastfeeding in, oh, say 10 months or so. I haven't lost any weight in the last month but have lost an inch in my hips. I'm hoping that I will start to lose those last pounds after 3 months pp; that's when it started last time. I'm telling you, there's something about 3 months. I've read a lot of theories indicating just that - like studies saying breastfeeding women lose more weight than non between 3 and 6 months postpartum.

The more I read the more it seems that a. no one really knows all I would like to know about pregnancy and breastfeeding and the effect they have on the body and b. everyone's body is different. I gained way less weight this time but am still fighting the same battle 2 months post-partum. The only advantage (besides being in better shape overall and being able to push out a posterior baby- another story for another time) is that I'm starting the countdown to skinny at 125 lbs instead of 130. (Well, and probably less inches to lose as well.) What is it about multiples of 5 that create weight plateaus? (In normal life it's often hard to break 120.) I started the pregnancy at 119 lbs but dropped to 117 during the second month so that's what I'm considering my goal. I was once 110 lbs back in 2004 (thank you boy-stress) but people were starting to worry about me. Said boy thought I was in the bathroom all the time throwing up, instead of due to a small bladder. Anyway, after boy was no longer in the picture I went up to 113-115 and would LOVE to get back there someday but would be very satisfied with 117 and fitting back into all of my pre-Snugs clothes. (I've gotten rid of a lot of pre-Nadia clothes because they were worn out- it was hard to find clothes I liked/that fit in Italy so I wore my Canadian clothes to their last shreds!)

Some women report that breastfeeding melts off the pounds immediately and others, often fit ladies, report it isn't until they stop that they can shed those last 5-10 lbs. I'm obviously in the latter category but despite knowing that I find it hard to trust. I'm just impatient that way.

So that's the skinny, or rather, fatty. (Me, that is. Snugs is very obviously festively plump!)

Learning to Play By Herself

Necessity is the mother of invention. Not only am I busy with the baby and such, but I suck at playing. Fortunately she has a father. He is the fun one.