first tooth

I didn't think I would feel pride when baby Doodle did something that was totally out of his power, but this morning I felt his first tooth poking through the gum. I felt proud of him; partly because he has reached a milestone and partly because he barely complained about it. He hasn't been napping well, but that is nothing new. He has been going to sleep in his crib at night without being asleep when I put him in it. He's been waking up once in the middle of the night and has trouble falling back asleep, but he has not whined or cried that much. He took getting a tooth like a pro. I am so proud of him!

on our own

Mr. Doodlebug is away on business today and tomorrow. He’s in Dallas. His first trip to Texas. I can’t say I’ve ever been. I’m sure there are parts of Texas that are lovely. I hear Austin is nice, though I have no desire to visit Texas.

I will miss having Mr. D around tonight and he’s coming home later tomorrow than he normally does. He’s a big help with baby Doodle. I’m sure he’ll enjoy his night of peace and quiet. No one will be hitting him to stop snoring. No one will be crying at 2:00 a.m. for him to get up and soothe. And no one will be annoyed when he makes too much noise getting ready in the morning. He’ll have a nice night. Baby Doodle and I might not. Though we won’t have a snorer in our midst, which will be pleasant.

It’s too bad The Office is a repeat tonight. I’ll watch it of course, but I wish it were a new episode.

I've had it!

The police don't ticket and "yunkers" and Roxboroughites are too lazy to walk a half block to their destinations. Why oh why must people park their entire cars on the sidewalks? It's not legal. It's unsafe. And it's discourteous.

I don't know of any other city where parking on the sidewalk is accepted by both the residents and the authorities. In DC we had to drive around several blocks to find a parking spot on the street when we came home late at night. We walked the block or two to our house. Yes, it was inconvenient, but it would NEVER have occurred to us to park our car on the part of land that is specifically designated for pedestrians. Not only would it never have occurred to us, but we would most definitely have been ticketed and would have never done it again. Once in a while I'll see a car parked on the sidewalk with that blue and white ticket under the windshield and say aloud "yea, they got what they deserved!" But it's rare and the few times it's done don't seem to discourage even those who were ticketed.

I have complained about this to my friends, husband, family and on Philly Blog since we moved to Philadelphia in July 2005. Yesterday, I was driving down a curvy, steep hill that is incredibly narrow and still cars are allowed to park on one side of the street. Despite its dangerousness it is a main thoroughfare connecting I-76 to Manayunk and Roxborough. A line of cars were coming up the hill as I was going down trying not to hit the curb on my right and the cars on my left I navigated my way down most of the hill. Then I heard a loud crack and saw that my sideview mirror -- the one on the passenger side -- had hit the sideview mirror of a car parked on the sidewalk. The sidewalk itself isn't that wide. The car's four tires were squarely on the sidewalk, but its mirror jutted out into the street and I hit it with my car (a Honda Accord). I was pissed! I was going to the train station to pick up Mr. Doodlebug and was in shock for a few seconds, and didn't stop to bitch out the person whose idiocy I was going to have to pay for.

I picked up Mr. Doodlebug and we went back up the hill to see if the car was still there. It wasn't. I suspect they heard me hit their car and went out and moved it. Mr. D got out and looked for the mirror. The mirror itself had fallen out, but the actual part of the car where the mirror goes is still attached and unscathed. He didn't see the mirror.

Now, not only are sidewalk parkers making me walk in the street with baby Doodle, but they are costing me cash! Why won't the police do something about this huge problem? I have to say to sidewalk parkers: WALK TO YOUR DAMN HOUSE, STOP PUTTING BABIES IN DANGER, AND STOP RUINING THE SIDEWALKS WITH YOUR 2-TON CARS.

mean streak

Sometimes my mean streak rears its ugly head. It is often when I'm with Mr. Doodlebug and a group of people. Last night we went to Boyfiend's birthday party. There was good food and good people and we had a good time. At one point Girlfiend asked Mr. D to pick up the excersaucer in the diningroom and move it out of the way so people didn't have to step over it to get to the kitchen. The Fiendling was hanging onto the base of the excersaucer. Mr. D waited until he had let go and then lifted it up. As he was lifting the Fiendling grabbed onto it again and this time Mr. D hadn't noticed and the Fiendling rolled to one side and hit his head on the wood floor. He started crying and I said "nice going honey." As if he didn't feel bad enough for making someone else's baby cry I repeated my sentiment in equally mean words. He gave me a look as if to say "okay, you don't have to make me feel worse." Then I gave him a look that said "don't be mad at me!" I felt bad a few seconds later and told him that I was sure the Fiendling was okay. He went to check on him in the kitchen. And he was okay, and had even stopped crying.

I don't know what it is about being with a group of people that makes me be more mean to Mr. D than I normally am. I don't know if it's some left over insecurity from high school -- wanting people to think I'm cool so I put other people down, (which I didn't do much of in high school) even if that other person is my husband. Or if it is always the wine talking, revealing my mean side. I have noticed that I've done it before but never really tried to figure out why. I'm going to make a consciuos effort not to put down Mr. Doodlebug when we're with other people -- when we're alone, fine, but not in front of others.

I'm sorry for the way I acted last night. I would never want baby Doodle to be married to someone who was mean to him.

my mom's election

I had a dream the other night that my mother won her election. She's running for state representative in Vermont. I really hope she wins. She would be great. I am trying to help her keep a level head about it though. She lives in a conservative district and she's a Democrat. If her opponent (my ex-boyfriend) wins it will only be because he's a Republican and having that R next to his name on the ballot means a lot to the people in my mother's district. My mother is definitely more experienced and qualified for the job.

Yesterday I drafted a letter to the editor of the local paper encouraging people to vote for my mom -- I gave them reasons other than that she's my mother. It was suggested to me by the man who is running her campaign that I do so. I don't know how helpful it will be, but I don't think it will hurt.

I sent Mr. Doodlebug's and my absentee ballots to the County of Philadelphia yesterday. We'll be in Vermont on Election Day this year. Casting my vote for Bob Casey felt really good. I hope other Pennsylvanians feel the same.

pictures upon request

There has been a request for more pictures of baby Doodle. So here are two more.

sleeping

After three non-consecutive nights of letting baby Doodle cry in his crib for no more than 15 minutes -- to try to get him to go to sleep without being on my breast -- he fell asleep in his crib two nights in a row after just a few minutes of monologue (not crying, talking). I am so pleased that he seems to have caught on to the bed time thing, at least at night.

He still doesn't nap very well. He'll sleep in his stroller or in the carseat, but won't just fall asleep in his crib if I put him in there when he's tired. He fights it during the day. As long as he's sleeping at night, I'm not going to worry about the bad nap habits he has. Last night BD slept from 9:30 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. with one short wake up around 1:00 a.m. when Mr. Doodlebug went to him and stuck his pacifier in his mouth. If BD keeps going to bed without a pacifier or my breast, we'll try to stop giving him the pacifier when he wakes up in the middle of the night, too.

sad baby = sad mommy

Last night baby Doodle did not fall asleep nursing like he usually does. And I was left with the question: Should I let him stay up until he's hungry again and hope that he falls asleep then? Or should I put him in his crib awake and let him cry himself to sleep? We opted for the latter. Knowing that BD was very tired -- he was rubbing his eyes while he ate -- I put him in his crib and stood over him rubbing his head and singing softly to him. This did not put him to sleep. In fact, I suspected that my very presence was keeping him up. I left the room at 8:47 p.m. and gave him 15 minutes to fall asleep. If he was still crying at 9:02 p.m. I would get him and we'd try something else. The shrill cries started to die down around 8:57 and he was completely quiet by the deadline. He had cried himself to sleep.

It was awful. More for me than for him, I think. It is heartbreaking to listen to your baby wail on and on hoping that his mommy will come save him from the misery of being put to bed. I held my ground, as hard as it was, and did not get him from his crib. He slept until 2:00 a.m. when he woke up to eat. Stopping that habit is our next battle. Then, on to removing the pacifier from BD's life altogether -- we're already starting to wean him from it at our pediatrician's advice.

Baby Doodle's half birthday

Today baby Doodle is 6 months old. Mr. Doodlebug and I sang to him at exactly 2:56 p.m. when he was born. He was delighted by the song. I made him a half cake, inspired by Girlfiend, and he promptly put his hand in the frosting and took a chunk out of it. We also made a mold of his little hand with plaster of paris. I'm sure I will appreciate it much more than he will when he's older.

I can not believe how fast he's growing. The other day I was putting away clothes that he has outgrown, among them were his newborn (smaller than the 0-3 month) one-piece pajamas. They looked so tiny. I remember when people gave us outfits for when he would be 6 to 9 months and thinking how big they looked, and finding it hard to believe he would ever fit in them. Well, he does. It's amazing.

Some pictures to commemorate baby Doodle's half birthday:



















Baby Doodle sits up by himself now.

















Baby Doodle feeding himself rice cereal. He loves it even though it tastes like bland mush.





















Too cute.





















Baby Doodle, Mr. Doodlebug and the half birthday cake that BD took a chunk of.