bird & bears

Brian is off work today so I can type two-handed. Wow does it feel amazing. He and Robin are sitting nearby making faces at each other and having a conversation. She's really coming into her own little personality right now, cooing and gurgling and making lots of faces. It's pretty freaking awesome.

So, we still haven't heard from the guy about his condo and whether or not it will be available. And all of a sudden today I got impatient about it and emailed him basically saying "we would vastly prefer to rent from you but if nothing changes by the end of the semester, we're going to look elsewhere." I poked around a bit to see what's available and it looks like we should be ok if we don't dawdle on finding a new place. There were even a few options that looked preferable/nice! The trick is finding places around here that are cat-compatible. We decided that our must-haves are: cat friendly, laundry hook ups (in-unit w/d even better!), dishwasher. (We're looking for 2 bedroom/2 bath.) After that, we'd prefer a first floor place, covered parking, and not an apartment (I'd love a duplex, or something where we don't have to share walls and halls with people).

Usually I'm a complete fucking mess about finding housing, but this time around I'm just trusting that the right place is out there for us. I was encouraged by the stuff I saw just poking around.

I'm trying to focus on getting my homework for my indy study done. Fortunately we set it up so I don't have that much to do (I think about 24 articles to read, grouped into "units" about which I need to do a little write-up, and then a final "essay" that's about theory-into-practice type stuff). I have about four weeks to get it all done, and I'm almost through one unit. The trick has been finding time to write. I can read while nursing but not write a paper - not yet, anyway. At any rate, I think that's achievable. And hopefully I can stay on top of grading. OMG I can't wait for summer. Can't. Wait. So. Ready.

Oh. This is fucked up. Apparently someone somehow got ahold of Brian's debit card number and used it to run up a $600 charge at a gambling site through Ireland. So now he's had to run all over town to the bank and cops and everything to get the money returned. It's a huge pain in the ass -- shouldn't it NOT be? We're not the bad guys here. Why do we have to do so much weird paperwork to get back money we didn't spend?

I've been obsessing over Robin's diaper situation. I so dislike disposables. I'm psyched: babycatcher33 did a Goodmama lotto and I got one!! The holy grail of cloth diapering and I get to try it out. Brian asked if I was going to sell it :P funny enough that hadn't even occurred to me. I'm excited to try it.

We need to get Robin's birth certificate taken care of. If we do it within the next week, we won't have to go down to the Soc Sec office and get her number. That's our goal: to avoid more hassle. We have to find a notary public. Do you have to make an appointment with a notary, or do they just hang out waiting for people to show up for notarizing purposes?

Robin is getting chunky and strong. She's getting really good at head control - nursing her at night is so much easier now. I think she's almost to where she'll hold her head up. Exciting! I think wearing her will be a lot easier once she can do that.

Sorry I'm just rambling. It's just so amazing to be able to type fast.

Robin is getting hungry but I don't want to have her back. I'm annoyed at how little Brian takes over her care when he's off work. I'd like a little more break time, you know?? I keep thinking that his days off will be days where I can accomplish things I haven't been able to that really require time and two hands, like some serious laundry sorting/putting away, and writing, and shaving my legs. It's not working out that way. I think it will get better. We had some serious talks this week that I think might result in some big changes. More on that later, probably. Yeesh.

OK. She's really getting fussy. I'm off!

I have a little time while Robin is napping and Brian is cleaning up since my Mom shouold be here any minute. (I don't know why he's cleaning, his choices are kind of making me nuts today but oh well).

Things are going great. I mean, there are some problems but they're all the typical problems. So by all accounts things are going great. I'm having a lot of emo roller coaster issues - I hope it goes away fast. My midwife says with the milk comes the tears and that I should start feeling a little more even today or tomorrow now that the hormones have transitioned. I'm nervous about baby blues/ppd. My stupid placenta is still in the freezer because we keep forgetting to give it to Monica. I need my friggin' placenta pills!! Afternoon/evening is my low time and I just cry even when Robin is nursing great and things are going awesome. It feels very hormonal, very adolescent almost, so I'm hoping it IS the 'mones and not something bigger. Of course I understand the irony of being sad that I might be sad.

It would be great if all the Moms on my f-list could reply here and talk about what their early days were like so I can feel more normal and less panicky.

Robin is mostly a dream. She's settled down a lot and is generally pretty easy to care for. She does have a few times a day where she gets really mad that she can't latch on really easily and works herself up into a frenzy and that is really frustrating since what she wants is literally in her mouth and she is crying. But we always get it to work eventually.

OK, gotta go.