Talula

Talula is our five year old pug. We adopted her when she was about seven months old from a family who bought her as a puppy but couldn't keep her. She is an exceptional dog. She has her frustrating moments, but overall she's a great addition to our family. I totally recommend the pug breed for anyone - especially families with young kids.  The pros totally outweigh the cons:

Jetsetters

Whoa. What a trip. This post will mostly be a photobomb with minimal commentary.

Travel day.

Leo and Talula

You asked for more Talula, and you've got it. Talula thinks it's her sole responsibility to keep Leo clean via tongue bath. Now that he's got a runny nose, she's been especially attentive to her job. Mmmmmm, salty baby boogers. Initially we tried to intervene, but we've pretty much resigned ourselves to it and just make sure to give him a good wipe down after a Talula interaction.

Leo's First Week

I am so incredibly tired. This week has been a rollercoaster. We are crazy in love with this little man and can just stare at him for hours - at the same time, I'm seeing why sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture. It's such a shame that this incredible, once-in-a-lifetime, fleeting time has to be enjoyed through a haze of exhaustion and pain. It's been a bit of a blur - and honestly I'd much rather be sleeping or staring at Leo right now than posting, but I want to make sure I record a few details before it all runs together.

Sunday - Day 1
Once our precious baby joined us earthside and we were cleaned up and filling out paperwork - I asked my family to bring me strawberry pancakes from Pamela's. We were home just six hours post birth and little Leo got to meet jb's side of the family. Leo was pretty much passed out for 24 hrs. after the birth, which we should have taken advantage of to get some sleep, but we were on such an adrenaline rush that we mostly just stared at him.

Monday - Day 2
We had a follow-up nurse home-visit for both Leo and I. The soreness began to hit me as the adrenaline wore off. My mom and Aunt Fanny (Aunt Fanny is Muffy's chosen name for Leo to call her) came by with lunch.

Tuesday - Day 3
Big outing day. First the pediatrician, then voting (I wish I had a picture of Leo voting with jb at three days old, but alas that pesky no camera rule). For dinner we went to Abi's (Abi is my mom's chosen name for Leo to call her) and had an awesome feast of veggies, fish and rice.

Wednesday - Day 4
I had a home visit from the lactation consultant, which was helpful, and timely because I was already getting super frustrated and almost ready to introduce formula. My hormones crashed something awful. We had some neighborhood visitors stop by the cafe to meet Leo.

Thursday - Day 5
Back to the pediatrician for a weigh in - he was still was not gaining, but had not lost any more weight which was encouraging. Katerina (my godmother) and Aunt Fanny came by for lunch and we had awesome chinese take-out and cupcakes. We got ambitious and walked down to the Greek Food Festival for dinner. The walk took a lot out of me, but it was nice to take Leo out for a casual meal and feel like we were getting some date time in.

Friday - Day 6
The lactation consultant came back for another home visit. I got a lot of sleep thanks to daddy (daddy is jb's chosen name for Leo to call her) picking up just about everything. Uncle Daniel came to see Leo. There was Brunton's chocolate milk back in my life after a dry spell (every where was out of it for the last two weeks of my pregnancy!!)

Saturday - Day 7
Leo made his cafe debut and met some of the regulars that hadn't come by yet. We took a lovely family nap. My Aunt and Uncle came by after the shop closed to meet Leo. Leo ate a whole bunch and fell into a deep sleep and jb and I were able to watch a TV show together and steal a bit of a cuddle.


Things about this week that have been hard:

• Breastfeeding - holy heck. I don't even know what to say about it that's not too awfully graphic, but it has been a real challenge. I know it's hard for a lot people, but I've got the extra challenge of having had a breast reduction (years ago) so it's been unclear what kind of success we could have with breast feeding, if any. I'm very proud to say that at this point we haven't needed to supplement with formula.
• Pain - Not only are we using new muscles when we carry Leo making for aching arms and back, but also, my posture while breastfeeding isn't always ideal (especially if it's a particularly painful session). On top of that, while in labor I got through contractions by bracing myself against two walls, so the next day I felt like I had bench-pressed a car. On top of that the soreness of recovering from a vaginal birth and the pain associated with learning to breastfeed. Well, ouch.
  
• Talula. Overall she is great and gentle with Leo - but she's also been acting out. She's had about an accident a day in the house which is just not what we want to be dealing with. In the last day or so she has calmed down a bit, so here's hoping it's getting better.
• Not having the same time with jb. We've been very blessed to have very flexible (if busy) schedules over the last few years and we are spoiled because we are used to eating together, falling asleep together, relaxing a bit together, even taking naps together - but now we have to take turns doing most things and while we've managed to stay on the same team, we miss each other quite a bit.
• The great hormone crash of 2010. Oh my goodness. It was so intense and so scary. Like drowning. I cried nonstop, about everything from how beautiful our baby is, to how I'm doing everything wrong. Luckily it cleared up in 24 hrs, and while there are still rough moments, I'm feeling pretty sane.
  
• Lack of sleep. It just magnifies all the above and makes you feel so run down. And then it's just sad to feel the days slip by as you are just trying to keep your head above water. Getting out of the house helps, sunshine helps, good food helps, and well, of course rest.
  

The little things I don't want to forget:

• Leo peed on jb
• Leo pooed on jb
• Leo spit up on jb
• Hearing jb repeat "I'm a dad, I can touch poo" like a mantra over and over with the messier diaper changes.
• I missed sleeping on my tummy so much!
  
• Friends and neighbors have provided a constant stream of food, flowers, clothes, and support.
• His "poof. poof. poof." and snorty breathing. This is already long gone, and thank goodness because were worried it might be a sign of respiratory issues, but man was it cute.
• His billy goat fussing noises.
• The bruising on his forehead and eyes and his poor little conehead that he wore as badges of his tough, if quick, birth.
• His two faces - totally relaxed, passed out after a milk binge or grumpy old man.

Anyway, I hope yinz like baby pictures - because I can't stop taking and posting them.

Baby, it's cold outside

We had a big winter snowstorm. Like big-big. We haven't seen this much snow since our romantic Cleveland getaway. The roads are pretty bad, but it was a gorgeous day for a walk. So Talula and I set out on our daily walk to the park. We walked in the middle of the street for most of the way there.
Once we got to the park we had to brave the unshoveled sidewalk to get to the entrance. We almost gave up at this point - Talula had to leap most of the way. If you watch the video you'll see that at first she keeps turning back to me seeming to ask, "really? I should keep going?"



In a well-timed coincidence, another one of our many generous neighbors offered to loan me her maternity coat and just dropped it off for me yesterday. This is a big relief because I've had to choose between breathing comfortably (and leaving the bottom half of my coat open - brrr) or having a warm tummy (and forcing my coat to button over this baby bump I'm growing). I think the buttons on that coat were on the verge of popping off all together, so I'm especially grateful for this coat which is super warm and still has room for some more tummy growth.


I'm so glad we didn't get discouraged and turn back because once we got into the park (which had fairly clear walkways) it was just breath-taking. I love our neighborhood, and I love that we can walk to this park. This park is a pretty big part of our lives. We go there nearly every day and each season brings something to look forward to. The lake hosts kayakers in the summer and ice-skaters in the winter. We picnic under the trees and watch their leaves change. Today's walk through the park was extra special. It was so quiet and bright - even with many of our neighbors sledding and having snowball fights - it felt like we were the only people (or well, person and puppy) for miles.

Good Day Sunshine

The audit went well - very well, even. Hooray. So now we can breathe a little easier on that front.

After a brief spell of unseasonably nice weather it's getting cold again - but the sun is shining bright, making it bearable.

Thanks to the sunshine and a little extra time with the audit behind us - we were able to take pictures. We are averaging taking pictures every three weeks - hopefully we can make it a little more regular now that my belly is growing in leaps and bounds. Here I am at 24 wks.


Talula is not used to not being the center of attention so she naturally assumes that she is the star of these photo shoots. Who are we to disagree...

Hey Lady, you're in my shot.

And finally - a behind the scenes belly adjustment.

Warm Spell

Last weekend we had a house guest, Baxter (our friend's pug). I was super excited to dog-sit thinking that Talula would be thrilled to have a puppy friend around for four whole days, but she didn't seem that into it. They co-existed peacefully, but a few times I think Talula was wondering when he was going to go home. I had forgotten how hard it is to have a new dog around, and I think jb is very grateful that Baxter's visit made me re-think my constant "I think we should get a puppy" lobby. And while I think Baxter had a good weekend with us, he was soooooooo excited to be reunited with his owner.


Well, with Talula back to being an only puppy, and our household returning to it's usual rhthym jb has continued to make an extra effort to make time for us. The last date she planned was especially sweet. Acousticafe hosted a fundraiser at the Hard Rock Cafe with a bunch of local artists all doing covers of Beatles songs. This is especially thoughtful because while I absolutely adore the Beatles, jb is not their biggest fan. It was really a great date, we enjoyed the show, I got a burger and a chocolate shake, and we held hands and were generally lovey-dovey.

As an added bonus, this weekend's weather was perfect. The sun was shining and there were leaves on the ground. Mid-November and we spent Sunday in the park with short sleeves and shorts - it was in the 70s!


Larissa had spent the last few hours putting a shift in at the cafe and Nicholas and I had gone out for breakfast with my dad. Afterwards, we had a few hours to enjoy the day, so Larissa, Nick and I headed to the park with Talula and just layed out on a blanket basking in the weather.


After a little bit jb joined us and we played a few rounds of Apples to Apples (one of our favorite games). I don't think this warm spell will last much longer, but I'm so glad we were able to take advantage of it.

Fall in Love

On Friday Hoi Polloi hosted a guest chef - my mom! She offered to make a Mexican dinner to mark our new evening hours - and it was a huge hit! We got a big (for us) crowd for dinner and the reviews of the food were raving. It was a little stressful in the kitchen (now we know where the saying "Too many cooks in the kitchen" comes from), but once we got our system down things were running smoothly. The menu included cheese stuffed broccoli and cauliflower patties, chiles rellenos, and taquitos de papa. Each dinner came with a vegetable soup, rice, beans and dessert (baked plantains or bananas and cream). It was delicious. She may even come back to cook regularly!


So the new hours at the cafe are going well - except that it has really cut into our time together as a couple. It didn't sound like too drastic of a change initially - one more day and couple hours at the end of each day - but that all adds up to another 27 and a half hours per week of open time. Add on top of that my family being back in town and it's meant less time for jb and I to spend together.

Well, today jb woke me up and asked if I wanted to join her for a drive. I assumed it would be one of our usual drives - aka running errands - but jb had a very special day in store for us. We collected Talula and the picnic that jb packed and piled into the car and we were off. Apparently Lu really wanted to be in this first picture:


For our first stop - Talula wasn't invited.


I've been craving donuts like crazy lately, so jb did some research about where to find the best donuts in the tri-state area :) And they are AMAZING.


We drove to Brady's Run County Park to enjoy the leaves, but started by enjoying the donuts. jb's not usually much of a sweets person, but I think she enjoyed them, too. Here she is double fisting.


After donuts we set off for a walk through the leaves. It was perfect. The sun was warm, the shade was cool, the leaves were gorgeous colors and falling magically all around us. We held hands and watched Talula having the time of her life.


As thrilled as we were with the day - I think Talula was on the verge of exploding with puppy happiness. She ran ahead of us with such a bounce in her step and her ears flopping we couldn't help but laugh.




To top it all off, on our way home we stopped at a farmer's market by the side of the road and picked out a few pumpkins. By the end of the day we had a pooped puppy. (And I was pretty tuckered out myself.) It was such a great day - and so appreciated since it's felt like we've had to steal moments together lately.

Sum-sum-summertime

I have been enjoying this summer so much. The weather has been really great - warm, but still cooling down at night and there are so many great outdoor things happening. Talula is thrilled that she gets to go on more frequent and longer walks and tag along on more outings.

jb's soccer game cheering section is expanding - this week Daniel and Talula both joined me. Talula could only have been happier if I let her run around on the field with jb during the game.


I've been making lots of summery meals with fresh ingredients from our garden and the farmers' market. After the success of my fresh basil pesto, I made some fresh spring rolls with field greens, basil, mint, shredded carrot, cucumber and shrimp with a creamy dipping sauce. I also tackled some rosemary-lemon chicken - which while time consuming, was totally worth it.


This evening jb and I packed a picnic and headed to Schenley Plaza for WYEP's Summer Music Festival. We feasted on chicken salad, bagel chips, grapes, nuts, cucumber/tomato/avacado salad, jalapeno/cilantro hummus, and peanut butter cookies. I also packed my famous white-sangria (which is just pineapple juice, lime juice, and chardonnay - shhhh). It was a perfect evening. The sun set slowly as we enjoyed the music and we ran into several friends and neighbors. Dar Williams played a short set - which was the main reason we went - but the whole thing was so much fun (and totally romantic).