One

October is birthday month around here. The little boy turned one earlier this month, and John's big day is today.

I baked a chocolate cake for A and we were expecting to get the typical baby-smashing-cake photos, but he really wasn't interested. John liked the cake, so I'm baking round two today. We'll see if A wants it this time around.

I just made the frosting. As usual, I bake while others sleep. It's 6am.

Our friends Barb and Sierra, their son Jesse, and 3-legged dog Sammy are visiting for the weekend. Our first Portland house guests!

Flowing

I had my first acupuncture treatment yesterday. I'm glad I am trying this route before venturing down the traditional medicine path, which could lead to drugs and surgery.

As Victoria inserted the needles into my feet, legs, hands, and shoulders I felt little pricks and tickling sensations. Only once was it sharp and uncomfortable, and she readjusted the point. She said it's normal to feel something, but it shouldn't hurt. After all of the needles were in she put a heat lamp over my abdomen and right hand, and left the room for 20 minutes.

I was supposed to relax and turn inward, because the more you can relax, the easier it is to get the energy flowing the right way. I wanted to look up to see exactly where she had placed the needles, but I was afraid to move - I wasn't sure if movement would tweak one of the points/pathways and cause a twinge.

So I closed my eyes, breathed, and pictured myself floating on my back through a canyon on the Main Salmon. It's a snapshot from a river trip four years ago, and I always go back to it when I am doing relaxation visualization. The cool water, warm sun, high canyon walls sliding by, the river carrying me. And then, I fell asleep on the table.

Victoria is great, and was glad I took a little "acu-nap". She is pregnant, and so was sympathetic to my theories of how hormones/nursing/carrying A. with my right arm might all be contributing to the pain.

I am already seeing some improvement. I had a pretty good sleep last night. Woke up with some numbness/tingling/pain, but not as bad or as often as other nights. I need to make an appointment for next week.

One of the reasons why I think I gravitate toward acupuncture is the river metaphor-- just as we restore rivers of the water variety by removing dams, etc, we can restore the rivers of energy that flow through our bodies.

Here's the short description:

The ancient Chinese believed that there is a universal life energy called Chi or Qi present in every living creature. This energy is said to circulate throughout the body along specific pathways that are called meridians. As long as this energy flows freely throughout the meridians, health is maintained, but once the flow of energy is blocked, the system is disrupted and pain and illness occur. Imagine rivers that flood and cause disasters or an electrical grid short-circuiting that causes blackouts. Acupuncture works to “re-program” and restore normal functions by stimulating certain points on the meridians in order to free up the Chi energy.

Thanks for the photo, British Library.

Sweet

Out of milk and cream, I put a scoop of coconut gelato in my coffee this morning. A tasty treat at 3am. I actually had the best sleep in weeks -- 8pm, when I put August to bed, to 3. At 3, August was awake and my hand was hurting so we went down to the kitchen. I drank my coconut gelato coffee while he played with the tupperware lids. At 4 we went back up and both fell back to sleep. I slept until 6 and he is still sleeping!

Today is going to be a good day. Besides the good sleep, I'm also getting my first acupuncture treatment this afternoon.



Thanks, Culinary Chronicles, for the photo.

Too much of a good thing?

A tree heavy with fruit + several days of rain + super soft soil = uprooted tree.

I went out the back door this morning carrying August, dogs following, to get the stroller so we could all go for a run. As I was strapping and leashing everybody up, John opened the kitchen window and pointed to the big empty space over the back gate. Where just yesterday evening there was a giant mass of tree and leaves and figs, now there was just cloudy sky.

"D'oh!" said August, pointing at the empty space.

I had been feeling good about this tree, all of the sweet, slightly exotic homegrown fruit. Enjoying autumn, our own little harvest. I had told several neighbors to stop by and pick some figs for themselves. I was planning at least one more batch of preserves.

And now the tree is down, lying on its side. I wondered, is there symbolism in this sudden crash? I didn't know what the lesson might be, until it struck me later in the day: the tree is me!

Seriously - I have been going non-stop for weeks. Months. Giving, nursing, working, etc, etc 24/7. With hand pain. Not sleeping. If I'm not careful I just might collapse.

After the run I made one last harvest, collecting the last of the ripe fruit (now at least I could reach the ones on the top branches).

We talked about what to make -- figgy pudding? Too bad it isn't Christmas. We talked about whether to cut up the tree, or try to prop it back up, to save it.

In the afternoon, John made pizza dough (D'oh!) with August. He took him outside in the Ergo to enjoy the sun and inspect the tree.

And I took a much needed nap.

Pain and productivity

Thanks to pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel pain in my right hand (it's hormonal - I had it after August was born, then it went away, and now he's a year old and it's back with a vengeance) I've been very productive in the early morning hours.

When I wake up at 2 or 3 am and can't get back to sleep because of the aching/burning/tingling/throbbing in my hand and fingers, I get out of bed, careful not to wake the babe, shake my arm, stretch, do some random yoga moves, then head down to the kitchen.

And make fig preserves. Or muffins. Or beans and quinoa and squash and sweet potatoes, to stock up for the week.

The fig preserves were a canning first for me. We have a fig tree in our yard that is full of ripe fruit and I harvested three colanders full. I went to Freddie's to buy a canning kettle with wire rack, and a jar grabber, but they didn't have either. So I just got some jars and improvised. I used a pasta pot with insert to boil the jars, and burned my fingers when I pulled out the jars, but it all turned out -- the lids sealed! I didn't know that little "pop" sound would be so satisfying. It's a bit addictive. After I had filled and sealed and stored nine jars of fig preserves, I started looking around the kitchen for other things to can.

Barb, Sierra and Jesse are coming to visit next weekend (John's b-day weekend) and we're going to go to a pumpkin patch. Maybe we'll buy a bunch of good apples and make some applesauce.

As for the hand pain, I made a dr appt for this coming Thursday. Of course regular medicine is covered under my insurance. But what I really want is acupuncture - I am sure that is the cure I need, I feel better just thinking about it - and insurance doesn't cover that. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and pay for it, though. Because if I don't, our entire pantry will soon be full of sleepless 3am preserves.

Recent pics

Lunch:


Going to the park:


Helping to unload the dishwasher - lips pursed for his signature "pfft" motorboat sound:

Wild Child

Yesterday I went to visit the boy at daycare around lunch time, as usual. All of a sudden, my sweet little baby is gone and there's a wild toddler in his place. He was laughing, lunging, rolling, grabbing, biting (playfully, but still) There was a sweet chubby little girl there, younger than him, and he kept trying to pull her pig tail.

He loves the dog door - I caught him crawling out the other day, and last night he dropped a bottle of cholula (stolen from the open fridge, his other favorite thing) out the door.

He's really into kicking his legs. He'll kick them in the stroller while laughing at the dogs (and I'll reach over and tickle him). And he likes to lie back in the bath (with me holding him) and kick the water.

He is definitely a fun-loving little guy. A little joker. And even though he is fast becoming a little boy, there are still many sweet baby moments. Like right now, as I write this, he is asleep on the bed cuddled with papa. And last night, watching the US Open final, we were playing on the floor and he crawled into my lap to snuggle and nurse.

In a couple weeks he will be one. I remember his birth so clearly, it seems like it was yesterday. And I have some friends and colleagues who recently had babies, and seeing the photos and videos - the wrinkled faces and newborn snuffling sounds - brings it all back.

We're having a bbq on Oct 3 to celebrate the big day (we'll get home from a DC trip the night of Oct 1, so I figure it will be good to have a nice quiet recovery day on the 2nd, his b-day, then have people over on the 3rd) - need to get the invitations out today!