The Arbolog |

Last night I went to see my stylist and I got my hair cut. I had taken a number of pictures in with me, and the reason I like this stylist (his name is Phillip) is that he will be totally honest with me and he understands that when I say “my hair is naturally wavy and I can’t stand how it sits on the fence and I wish it would just be curly or straight and stick with it” I really do mean that it drives me nutters. And he works with it. Also? He doesn’t charge a gabillion bucks, he is hella interesting, and it’s within walking distance of my house. 

Like I said, I took a bunch of pictures with me, but what he went off more was what I said “I’d like bangs. I’d like some layers. I’d like to shear off some of the dead weight. I’d like to be able to wear my hair down without having to spend a half an hour flat ironing it. I would also like to be able to pull it back occasionally still, and I would also like to be able to flat iron it should the mood strike me. 

I’m not in love with the end result, but I know it looks flattering and healthy and it’s exactly what I asked for. I guess part of the reason why I am not “in love” with it is that it is dangerously close to “MOM HAIR” and that, my friends, is a no-go zone in my world. Sort of like minivans. 

So here it is. Please note that this is after *I* styled it – when I came home last night it was crispy and waaaayyyy curlier. And by “styled” it, I mean: I wet it down, toweled it dry, and threw some anti frizz stuff in it.

From Miscellaneous

So yeah, I like it, I know it’s flattering and practical, and it’s what I needed. I’m a little sad that there isn’t a teensy bit more length, but it’s just hair, and it will grow out soon enough so that’s fine with me. 

Also, last night, Kale slept from 7 till 12, then nursed and dozed in bed with us, and then Ross put him back to bed where he slept for (and I am whispering this here) another 6 whole hours. Dare I say we are close to dropping the second wee hour of the morning feed? Oh yeah, and the reason he was so miserable last week? Uh yeah, hello two more teeth! His top front teeth came in ON THE SAME DAY. So we are up to four. WOO!

Kale is on a poop strike.

I’m not worried because he’s mostly his normal self (I’ll get to that “mostly” bit in a minute), is not running any sort of a fever, his tummy is fine and soft, and he isn’t vomiting. Unfortunately, when you know what’s “going in” you have an idea what should be “coming out” and right now he is not falling in line with that idea and no matter how much you know you shouldn’t be worried, you still sit there waiting for the poop. Who knew my life would be like this? I also think about how incredibly fantastic of a display the poop fireworks will be when they eventually come. I’m actually kinda scared. I joked with Ross this morning that we are on “Poop Watch”. 

I think CNN should do a special on Poop Watch 2008 and discuss all the previous poops, and maybe bring in an analyst to discuss the poops and all the possible reasons why the poops are not here, and maybe do some man on the street interviews, (oops, sorry, “person” on the street interviews), and then we could include some computer generated graphics about the poop, maybe a schematic or something of how the poop should be structured, and why the government should get involved to regulate the poop. And of course, Nancy Grace could put it out there that maybe the lack of poops is a CONSPIRACY and that perhaps it has something to do with aliens or something.

Anyway, so we are on Day 4 of Poop Watch, and I know you are all on the edge of your seat so be assured that I will definitely fill you all in when Kale fills his pants. Because that will be thrilling, let me tell you. I know he’ll be relieved.

But back to that “mostly” normal bit I mentioned earlier. Kale’s been displaying some behaviour while breastfeeding that is truly aggravating. I’m pretty sure he’s feeling a bit of gum pain these days (see also: chews anything near his mouth and drools constantly), and he’s been popping on and off the breast while nursing, at least until I let down. I think its sort of like “Oh my God I am hungry, no wait, that hurts”. I also think he’s hit a bit of a growth spurt (which may account for the Poop Strike) and he gets overly frustrated and upset about the fact that the milk is not immediately delivered. Couple that with the fact that we’ve again had to tweak the breastfeeding routine due to a crappy supply on one side and no longer feed him with bottles every second feeding (I’m exclusively feeding on one side now) so I think the added work I am requesting of him and his mouth is making him miserable. He’s also needing more naps (today he’s already had two and its only 1:30pm) and I’d otherwise be concerned with the extra sleeping except when he’s up and not hungry? He is his normal, happy, hilarious self who is in love with the Jolly Jumper and his Spitty Cloth and going for walks and watching me do stuff like bake cookies.

Every time I feel like I have a good handle on things, it all freakin’ changes and I have to relearn it all over again. Damn, that is frustrating. It’s like herding cats. I’m trying to keep my wits about me and not get worried and not get upset when we go through this re-learning because I know that its going to happen OVER and OVER and OVER until he is like, 18 or something, but it sure is frustrating while you are going through it. I’ve found myself being at the end of my rope a few times this past week, but then you dig in and climb back up to the top and you get stuff like this:

From Kale

My heartstrings? He has them. Maybe we just need more time in front of a warm fire, staring into the flames and soothing the soul:

From Kale

So, Kale is teething. Or, at least I think he is. According to my mom and Ross’ mom, both of us had our teeth fairly early. My mom tells me my teeth were HUGE and as a result, I was pretty miserable about it. Apparently I used to take a nipple from my bottle, shove my finger in it, and chew.

My son, however, much prefers to whine and snivel and chew on my fingers rather than his own. He goes through moments of total happiness that are matched equally by moments of sheer misery. Oh, woe is the life of Kale, for he is so hard done by. I can see little white spots (not the teeth yet) on his lower gums, and so I suspect the teeth, they are coming.

But in those shining moments of happy happy joy joy, we have hit a milestone! Kale today, during tummy time, elected to flip himself over onto his back. He’s also been way easier to put to sleep lately – provided I catch him when he’s tired and not tired-and-totally-miserable. It takes mere minutes now rather than the 20-30 minutes of shushing, patting, etc that we did have to go through when he was a newborn.

Of course, all bets are off if he is over tired or over stimulated, because that’s still a bit like herding cats.

I don’t want the previous post to go unnoticed as its way more interesting that this one, so make sure you watch our latest movie.