Shameless Self Promotion & Sale!

I finally made a push to get some pacifier clips up on etsy and into Monkey Beans Baby. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on whether you view it as a WOOHOO! SALES! or Crap, now I have more work to do), a good bit of my girly clips got bought up almost immediately by some very good friends before I even had the chance to put the remainders into the Monkey Beans Baby shop. I’ll update the shop with what I have left sometime tomorrow.

Anyhoo, since it is the grand ol’ opening of my etsy shop, everything in it will be up to 40% off through the end of April. That means all the pacifier clips are $3.00 right now! (Do I sound like an informercial yet?) I’m off to buy more ribbon later this week, too, so if you have any requests, convo me and we’ll figure it out.

It’s Strategically Placed Mess

I didn’t want my dear friend to feel alone. Children falling off of things happens to all of us. Luckily, they’re resiliant little buggers.

On Wednesday, I was putting a screeching Ben into his car seat, which I had (against all advisories on the car seat itself) on top of the couch. As Eric walked into the living room, trying to clear a small path through the piles of fabric on the floor, he grumbled, “Maybe we can take a half an hour when we get home and clean up the fabric from the floor?”

As I turn to give him a dirty look (again, GO SMART MAMA BRAINS!), I hear a THUMP! Ben had fallen, head first, out of the car seat and off of the couch onto…THE GIANT PILE OF FABRIC ON THE FLOOR.

Best reason to never, ever clean again.

Or, you know, not turn my back on Ben when he’s on the couch by himself.

I’m going to go with the no cleaning thing.

Great News

Welcome, AJ!!!

Congratulations, Marla! I’m so excited to meet him!!!

Buy (or Trade) Handmade

Jennie, the gal from Little Lids on Etsy and I made a trade earlier this month. I made her a Mei Tai and she made me two(!!) of her adorable hats for Ben. They’re so flippin’ cute in person. Unfortunately, since Ben is a willful child and gets all rambunctious with things on his head, I didn’t get very good pictures but I’m still trying!!

And the Mei Tai:

I love that so many of my girls make things. I’d rather buy from friends than some faceless (and most times heartless) corporation. You can be sure it comes with good juju. Check out some of my friends’ shops at the end of the post. Also, be sure to keep my stores (MonkeyBeansBaby & MonkeyBeans on Etsy) bookmarked. New stock is coming in soon! And, as always, I’m open to custom orders & trades!

Karen : Accessories by Mrs. Red
Julie : Hydroxide
Jennie : Little Lids
Mandy : Mandy Magoo
Valerie : My Wee Feet
Julie : Ohlieoh
Melissa : The Babymonster
Mandy : The Goofy Tooth

Still Lucid

Wednesday I had some minor surgery teeth yanked out of my jaw, 4 wisdom, 1 molar to match the last molar removed. This time I made the appointmet with a real dentist and it made all the difference.

The dentist made it clear she wouldn’t pull the 5 teeth without me being under conscious sedation. For a multitude of reasons, I would’ve preferred not to have done it. Not the least of which being that I couldn’t nurse Ben for 2 days since they were giving me Valium the night before and Halcion the day of. Of course, there was also the worry that I’d have a reaction or, more worrysome, say something completely embarassing that I wouldn’t even remember. I nearly cancelled more than a few times.

Luckily, on Tuesday I had the bright idea to talk to a lactation consultant. Two, in fact. They both said, since Ben was older and therefore more able to metabolize the medication, there was no real need to pump and dump since the medication was not for prolonged use. They both said, to be safe, I could P&D immediately after the surgery but he should be fine otherwise. I’d just have a sleepy baby on my hands. I didn’t, by the way, have a sleepy baby at all during that period. I’m very glad I didn’t avoid nursing him for those two days.

I took all 3 pills as described before getting into the office. I was a little loopy but no where near sedated. The first hour and a half in the doctor’s office consisted of me being given 4 more doses of the meds, continuous turning up of the nitrous and the doctor popping in to ask how I was doing. The response? “Well, she’s still lucid.”

About the 4th time the doctor came in, she finally gave me “the talk”. Since I wasn’t becoming sedated, maybe they should wait. She must’ve seen the horrified look on my face because she ended with, “Well, unless you feel okay with us trying to go ahead with it.” Yes, yes, go ahead! I wanted it over with.

I felt the first few shots and lucid enough to remember the first 3 teeth being pulled. As time went on, I was getting drowsier and drowsier. I remember, after pulling the first tooth, she said, “There! It’s out!”
“Really?”
“Yup. Are you okay?”
“Okay? I’m wonderful! I didn’t even feel that!”
Apparently, I talk like a 1950’s commercial when I’m sedated.

All went well. I don’t remember much of it. I don’t remember walking into the house, don’t remember getting in the car, don’t even remember pumping afterwards, although Eric said I did it by myself. I’m swollen and sore but I no longer have the pain in my ear which alone makes it all worth it.

If there’s one very important thing I’ve learned from this, it’s to teach Ben to take very good care of his teeth. Especially if he remains allergic to dairy like his grandfather and I. Well, that and that I can pump without even being remotely lucid. That has to be some kind of bankable talent.

8 Months?

8 months?! You cannot be 8 months already! How did you manage to get so big so fast? Why do I keep saying that as if I’m surprised the next month has suddenly come upon us? In another minute or two, you’re going to be 9 months and I’m not going to know where this 8th month went.

This month has been one giant milestone after the other. You manage to wake up and surprise the heck out of me everyday with something new. You’ve even decided that your favorite music is hip hop. HIP HOP! You like Snoop Dogg. What kind of 8 month old likes Snoop Dogg? What kind of 8 month old DANCES to Snoop Dogg? Only you. And only you would sing along, too.

Much to my chagrin, your grandma taught you how zippers work and now I’m worried that you’re suddenly going to zip your skin into your jammies one morning or figure out how to remove the debit card so you can book a flight to Vegas, marry some stripper and ruin. your. life! Remind me, when you get older, to discuss with you the dangers of marrying a girl named after a liquor, a food or a fairy tale character.

You’ve discovered that “no” means “stop doing that thing you’re enjoying so much that might get you killed”, and you don’t like it one bit. In fact, at the mere beginning of the word, your super sad, show me all your gums look spreads across your face and you start screaming like a raving banshee. “How DARE you tell me I’m not allowed to stand at the coffee table and throw the glass frames on the hardwood!” or “I prefer drawing on the carpet to the coloring book. Why is that a problem?” I know, I am one ridiculously facistic mama.

Suddenly, to my amazement, you showed us you’ve learned where our noses are. You respond to, “Where’s mommy’s nose?” by poking me in my nose. You respond to, “Where’s daddy’s nose?” by poking him in his. You respond to, “Where’s Benjamin’s nose?” by looking at me like I’m insane. I mean, really, how can I expect you to show me where your nose is when you can’t even look at it? I ask too much sometimes.

You’re getting so strong and so smart, I’m a little afraid. You’re going to be walking around the house and disassembling VCRs and stereos before you’re a year old. You’re going to be correcting my spelling in a matter of days and probably telling all your friends, “My mom is very sweet but she can be a little slow sometimes” well before you even hit school age.

All this to say, I’m so proud of you. You’re amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better baby and I know I am incredibly blessed to be your mama.

Love,
Yer Ma’

Wow.

Gay bashing and Muslim bashing all in one tirade. Wow. I certainly hope she doesn’t consider herself a Christian. I’d hate to be lumped in the same group with this woman.

Dis-gus-ting.

First Serious Fall

Ben had his first serious fall today. Scared the shit out of me and his father and nearly killed his great-grandma.

We were going into Sweet Tomatoes for Eric’s early birthday dinner. Eric jumped a puddle. Grandma, never to be outdone at 82, even when holding Ben, decided to try herself, too. She missed the step and went face first into the concrete. She managed to land on her knee first and block Ben from the ground with her arm but she did fall on top of him.

Talk about a “What the hell do I do” moment. Do you grab the baby or worry about the old lady on the ground? Eric grabbed Ben, I asked grandma if she was okay. I actually think I yelled it at her because I was freaking out. Grabbed a screaming Ben away from Eric and took him a few feet away to make sure he was okay and kill him with hugs if the fall didn’t do it first.

And here is where I see blood and my heart stops. “He’s bleeding!” Grandma is still on the floor. Dad and grandpa and some passerbys are trying to help her up. Mom scurries over, takes one look and says, “He bit his lip. It’s okay!” Me? Pale as a ghost, Eric says, and I was trying not to cry. “He hit his head! Check his head!” grandma tells me from the ground. I check his head, it’s fine but I’m convinced there’s internal bleeding or something horrific.

Grandma gets up but is sick to her stomach and her knee & neck hurt. I want to leave and go home. Mom makes us go in and eat. Well, everyone else ate. I just sat there trying not to puke as I looked at his perfect little lip swell to the size of a marble.

Grandma was worried everyone hated her but we got past that. She’s got neck & knee pain while Ben’s a happy camper. His lip swelling went down but he does have a little red spot on the back of his head that’s worrying me. It’s not swollen but it’s definitely there. I’m now not going to sleep tonight for fear that he may just stop breathing at any moment and I’m really not even kidding about that.

New Rule for this family: No one carries Ben outside of the house except us.