Braving the Supermarket

Today, after gan, I decided to ask the kids what we were going to eat for supper. This was mostly because I had no idea what to make. They came up with the idea of making spaghetti for supper, which made me realize that I didn't have sauce (we usually use the jarred kind). I decided to take the kids to the supermarket. I've never done this before. I've never taken them without a stroller. I've always had at least one of them restrained.

I was fairly terrified.

My list was very limited. Tomato sauce, tivol "ground", cheese, cinnamon gum if they had it (they didn't). That's it. We walked to the supermarket pretty much without mishap. Ephraim stuck with us and didn't run away. The kids obviously asked for cookies. And here's where the fates aligned. Two things happened. One, I happened to have both cake and cookies at home (provided by Kelli), and two, my kids happened to be angels. So I said "we have cookies at home" and Kinneret said "but I want cake" and I said "we have cake at home. Kelli brought us a cake." and wonders will never cease, she stopped asking. It even worked with cereal. She wanted the cookie cereal and I said "we buy corn flakes, and we have that at home," and she didn't ask again.

The kids asked for chocolate milk and I said "another day. not today" and they accepted that... Kinneret wanted to hold the sauce, but she accepted holding the cheese instead. Ephraim wanted to hold the cheese but he accepted holding the butter instead (how did that get on the list?) It was like miracle after miracle. Which is why, when I handed Kinneret her tivol ground to hold and Ephraim asked for one to hold too, I decided I wasn't going to press my luck, and we now have an extra package in the freezer. It won't go to waste.

The line was short and the kids didn't get crazy fidgety in line. The kids carried their share of the groceries part way home. They even almost sort of walked home decently. Times like this, I think maybe parenting isn't only for the absolute strongest and bravest. I think maybe it's something I'm actually capable of doing.

For the first time since the toddler phase started, I'm starting to feel like going out with my kids doesn't leave me feeling harried and worn out. I think I actually enjoyed going out to the supermarket with my kids. I might have even laughed a little. 

Wanarenes and Cumber-ers

I was at the greengrocer's yesterday, buying fruits and vegetables, and I saw that nectarines are finally in season. Last summer, in Finland, we ate a lot of nectarines. Kinneret loved them. She called them "wanarenes." 

One day, we sat in our cabin in Finland, making a shopping list, and we asked the children what we should buy. Kinneret kept saying "cumber-ers" (cucumbers). 

This summer, she calls them nectarines and cucumbers. I'm glad that she's growing up, but I miss her baby-talk mistakes. 

Here is a picture of her at her cousin's bar mitzva last month:

Random Tip

To help a toddler drink the broth out of a soup, give them a straw. Kinneret found this a particularly exciting part of eating vegetable soup.

Clarification

Some of y'all seemed to have thought that the picture in the last post was Ephraim.
It wasn't.
It was Kinneret.
For clarification...
This is Kinneret:
This is Ephraim:

This is Kinneret attempting to hold Ephraim in her lap:


As you can see from her smile, she LOVES being a big sister!

I hope this answers any questions left over from the last post.

Three Weeks

A lot changes in three weeks.

On Monday the 5th, I was having irregular contractions that weren't quite painful enough to be the real thing. For some reason, I decided to go get monitored at the Women's Clinic here, and my blood pressure was too high, so the doctor sent me to the hospital to get some blood work done and check for pre-eclampsia.

My mom and I went to the hospital. They monitored me, took my blood pressure, took bodily fluids of various sorts, etc. Then they decided to strip my membranes and send me home.

For those who don't know these things, stripping membranes is roughly like having one's tonsils removed via the cervix. (sorry to those who will have nightmares for the next month...)

This was around 5pm. We drove back to Modiin, picking up Yaakov on the way. We went to my sister's house, where Kinneret was, spent a little time with her, and went home. Yaakov made me dinner, and then it was time to head back to the hospital. It was a bit after 8 when my mom picked me up.

Labor was super-intense. We got to the hospital around 9, and I asked for an epidural. The baby was born at 9:40, before the anesthesiologist got anywhere near me. So once again, despite my best intentions, I had a natural childbirth.

To those who think that's a wonderful thing, I have one thing to say: OW! Giving birth hurts, dammit!

In other news. we named the baby Ephraim Yehoshua. Ephraim is for the verse "Haben yakir li Ephraim" - the son Ephraim is dear to me. Yehoshua is Joshua - the man who led the Jewish people in the conquest of Canaan. Remember the walls of Jericho? That was Yehoshua! So, here we are, looking for a true leader for the Jewish people... We're working on it right here at chez triLcat.

Kinneret was sick the week Ephraim was born, and to top it off, Poofy got into a fight with another dog on Shabbat. They fought right in the stairs of our building - I couldn't even be angry at the other owners for unleashing him - it's indoors... anyway, he couldn't walk, so I took him to the vet.

That was a really fun experience. We packed the two kids into the double stroller, and then we took a broken stroller that Yaakov is planning to take the wheels from and put Poofy in it. We wheeled our two strollers to the vet's house. Thank G-d (and Moti Dror, on Almogan, phone # available on request), the vet was home. He came out despite being in the middle of his morning coffee on a Saturday morning. He looked Poofy over, listened to my story, and gave Poofy a shot of steriods. He told me to take him home and keep him still and bring him back after Shabbat.

The whole afternoon, I spent worrying about Poofy, especially worried that he wouldn't be able to walk anymore and we couldn't keep him if he couldn't stand up by himself. Needless to say, there was much crying. After Shabbos, the vet told me that he expected Poofy to continue healing and that I should give him steriods for the next three days. He gave Poofy another shot, and gave me the rest in pills so I could give him them at home.

The bottom line is that Poofy can walk and run just fine now, but his jumping seems to have been permanently damaged. He can jump onto furniture, but it seems to be harder for him. The upside is that I doubt that he'll be able to get onto the dining room table anymore. On the other hand, I really miss his excited bouncing, and it's sad to watch him trying to analyze the jump before he gets up on a bed when it used to be completely effortless before. I guess it was inevitable. He's ten years old. He was going to slow down at some point. I just wish it hadn't been such a drastic and dramatic event :(

After this, Kinneret was in daycare for about a week, and then she got sick again. She was home for four days this week. That was challenging, to say the least. The doctor wasn't sure if it was herpes (which she'd been exposed to) or hand, foot, and mouth disease. Since herpes is super-dangerous for a child Ephraim's age, I had to keep her from touching him. That was, needless to say, challenging. Fortunately, it turned out to be hand, foot, and mouth disease, which is a much friendlier virus. It's one of those one-shot deals, as opposed to herpes which hangs around forever.

Today, she's finally back at daycare, and I'm trying to get control of the dish situation. I'm so grateful that we have dishwashers! Today feels so relaxed with just one baby who refuses to be put down. Fortunately, I have one of those wrap-up-baby things that you can use to attach a baby to the mommy. Kinneret used to love it, and Ephraim loves it too. I don't have a picture of Ephraim in it, but I'll give you a picture of Kinneret...

So, now I think I've caught up for the past three weeks. Well, pretty much. I'll post some more when I have the energy.

I Think She's Teasing Me

Today, while Kinneret was sitting in her high chair, eating a salmon cutlet (fishie schnitzel!), she gave Poofy a piece.

"Kinneret," I cried "we don't feed Poofy!"

She mumbled something back at me which for all the world sounded like "well, I do" with appropriate intonation.

I swear she can talk, she's just holding out on me.

Good Day!

Today, I decided I was going to have a good day. I took Kinneret and we went to the gym. I put her in the babysitting, and I did 30 lengths at the pool (not great, but not too bad either).
I'm currently at precisely the weight I was when I started my pregnancy (not bad for 15 weeks).

Of course, tonight my appetite went wild (it was only chicken, but it was a LOT of chicken), so we'll see how long that lasts.

Anyway, I spent about 1.5 hours in the pool with Kinneret, who was in a kamikaze mood today. She kept trying to drown herself, and I kept having to force her to keep her head above water. (She wanted to sit down - on the floor, not on my lap - even though the depth is such that it lands her mouth and nose under water.)

When we got home, she crashed for a good 2.5 hours. I took a shower and then found my own crash site... I love to sleep.

When we woke up, I made her an omelet, and then our friends Bethami and Eden (3) came over. It was very nice seeing them. Eden wanted to hug Kinneret all the time, and Kinneret seemed a bit indifferent to the affection, but it was pretty cute anyway. I wish I'd taken pictures. We'll have to invite them back soon!

By the time Bethami and Eden left, it was time to take Poofy for a walk and meet Yaakov at the bus stop. Yay!

Something's Happening...

I haven't posted in over a month. Sorry about that folks. I've kind of been in a not-so-bloggy place lately.

First the big news - I'm pregnant! I'm due Jan 9th or thereabouts. Part of the reason I haven't blogged is because at first, I was having really bad doubts about this pregnancy. I had pains that I thought might mean it was ectopic, and I just had weird emotional stuff that didn't let me believe it was ok.

Then I went to a doctor who I decided I don't like so much, and he almost refused to do an ultrasound. I basically had to tell him that I thought it might be ectopic. He refused to take a measurement, so I almost missed my chance to do a neuchal translucency. Fortunately, that was taken care of, and the numbers are good.

Lately, I've just been extremely tired, and while I have a lot to say, I don't seem to be able to organize it into a blog post.

And then, Kinneret turned one!

She's so sweet. Here's a picture of her enjoying her new tricycle (a gift from Aunt Rachel and Uncle Ohad & family).
Also visible is Poofy, who is a big fan of Kinneret's newest trick - giving all of her food to the dog instead of eating it. Fortunately, she does seem to be getting enough into her mouth - her face has thinned out some, but she still has baby-folds in her arms and legs!

In other exciting news, Rachel Inbar has moved her blog to here.

New on the blogroll is Chez Perky, with 1 midi perky and 3 mini perkies for four times the perkiness of the other leading blog!

DrSavta (and RabbiSaba) are doing a coast-to-coast tour of the USA.

A Mother in Israel is way more ambitious than I'd ever be. She's even washing her floor!

And that's pretty much all the news for right now... so stay tuned for the next exciting adventure of.... trrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiLcat!

Get in Touch with Your Feelings

Kinneret Milestones

Today Kinneret sat herself up from a crawling position for the first time.
She makes progress in a crawling position, but doesn't exactly crawl.
She turns from her stomach to her back and back to stomach, but she needs to be motivated.

She claps her hands and says something like Yay!

Quick Update

People seem to be worrying about my head. Thanks, people. It's much better, b/c of the Maronil (Anafronil). It still hurts most of the time, but at a livable level. There should be results from my EEG, but I haven't heard from the doctor who should have the results.

I have an appointment with her in two weeks, but I think I'll ask my doctor to give her a call. I don't think she'll speak to me, but she'll speak to him, and I really think that two weeks is a long time to wait for test results that have already been processed.

In other news, Kinneret and Yaakov both have colds. I took Kinneret to the doctor today, and he said not to worry too much. So we put a humidifier in her room to help her breathe more easily, and we're just going to wait it out.

These days, doctors don't give any symptomatic relief for cold symptoms for children under 2, because some new research showed that it could be dangerous... so poor Kinneret is miserable. I hope she gets better soon!

And finally, I'm now swimming 56 lengths (1.4km) each time I swim, and I'm down 4.5 kilograms!

Goodman Look-alike Meter

Everyone keeps telling us that Kinneret looks just like Yaakov or just like me. They can't seem to make up their (collective) minds. Well, folks, I guess that everybody's right. Or everybody's wrong?

All I know for sure is that she's CUTE!

Waking Up for Kinneret

I didn't feel this way the first three months, but now, I actually kind of enjoy waking up for Kinneret in the night. It's a sweet time.

She wakes up once or twice a night. If it's before 1am, I give her water, hold her for a while, and ease her back into bed. After 1am, I give her a bottle of milk. (If you look at my previous posts, you'll see I had nursing problems. I finally gave up after two months of misery on both our parts, and thank G-d, she is doing well on formula.) She drinks it down so fast, it's almost amusing, but her whole body is relaxed, just her mouth working on the bottle.

She lies in my arms, completely calm, warm, soft. This is our moment, in the still of the night. I think that when she sleeps through until morning, I might miss it.

Kinneret and Shlomit

Last week, we received a package from Shlomo, Kinneret's big brother, with a doll for Kinneret.

Today, as I was taking Kinneret out in the rain, I had trouble telling Kinneret and Shlomit (the new doll, note how original the name is...) apart.



Sorry about the quality. It was taken on my phone. But doncha just LOVE the ears?

Some Pictures.

I just don't have time to write. I'm constantly busy with Kinneret and working and trying to keep the house from becoming a hellhole.

Here are a few pictures...


















Tatty takes care of Kinneret



Kinneret gets to know Poofy



Kinneret in her new Chinese PJ's

How did I get here?

Sometimes, I'm not sure who I am. I mean, yes, I know my name. But sometimes, I look in the mirror and I'm confused as to how I got to be where I am.

Interestingly enough, when I started high school, my dream was to live in Israel, and be married and have a baby and cover my hair...

And that's where I am now.

But somewhere in the middle, I stepped off of that path. I became someone who got her friends to draw all over her jeans and then wore them in public. I went to dance parties with trance music (except I had to leave because the trance stuff makes me feel like my head's about to explode). I went to outdoor rock concerts and danced with men I'd never met. I learned all the words to the Israeli songs so I could sing along at the concerts with everyone else. I bought an incredibly short sleeveless dress, and wore it outside. Of course, I walked around feeling entirely naked, but it was kind of a liberating feeling. Of course, it was loose and no one even bothered to give me an appreciative glance, but hey, I felt undressed.

A bit over a year ago, I went to a concert in the Sultan's Pool with friends, and one of my favorite bands, Tipex (also called Teapacks) played. I jumped up and down and screamed like any other excited fan, and I got the STRANGEST looks. I guess it's just not normal for a woman in a long skirt with a head-covering to jump around like a teenager.

The last time I was at a concert was May. Considering that I gave birth in the end of June, I didn't have to be reminded not to jump. Kinneret did enough jumping for both of us - of course, I didn't know she was Kinneret at the time.

All this is to say that I'm not sure what really is me. Am I really the woman with the manicured nails and the wedding band and the long skirt and the frumpy head-coverings? Or am I the girl in the painted jeans? Can I be both? If I am the religious woman, how much of that other part of me do I have to give up? And what if sometimes it's too much? What if listening to a concert on the radio and dancing in my living room just isn't enough?

Those moments, being that other person, they made me feel alive in a way that is totally different from what I feel in my current life. I know that life isn't meant to be skydiving and dance parties. And I know that I've been to incredible juggling festivals. And of course, nothing in that world could ever compare to the feelings I have for Yaakov and Kinneret. No rock concert can compare to the beauty of having my baby's fingers wrapped around my own finger.

Would I trade my life now for that life? Absolutely not. But sometimes I wonder if I really have to let go of all of it to get to where I am now.

Yaakov Plays Kinneret an Irish Ballad

Getting it off my Breast... err.. Chest

Sometimes I feel like having a baby makes your private life no longer private. And I don't mean the fact that the baby is with you all the time. Sure, that makes for a challenge with the intimacy, but that's really okay with me. I can meet challenges.

What I don't like is the fact that other people, strangers, suddenly feel that because they can assume you've had sex (by the fact that you're pregnant, a parent, etc) they now have the right to intrude on your whole life.

It starts with the pregnancy. People feel like they have the right to touch a woman's pregnant belly as if it were public property. I literally had to tell a man to "back off" my belly. And of course, everyone has to ask what you're having. And if you don't tell them, then they tell you. (Just for the record, everyone told me I was having a boy.)

You'd hope that they'd quit once the belly is gone, but no... they find new ways to intrude. First, they touch the baby without permission, sometimes with dirty hands, sometimes while smoking. I try to keep Kinneret away from smokers... Oh, and you gotta love the people who want to touch her while she's sleeping! Hello? Would you like it if someone decided to prod you in your sleep? She's a baby, not a puppy, for heaven's sake!

The other way that they intrude is the ever-present question of "Are you breastfeeding?"

Here's the answer: "Sorta"

Usually, I try to keep my private business, well, private, or at least off of this blog. But the situation has gotten out of hand. I'm attacked with the question so often that it just drives me bonkers.

Here's the story.

When I was in the hospital after an excellent delivery, I had little success latching Kinneret on. I tried and tried, but I never heard a swallow. Right before I was released, the lactation consultant at the hospital tried to help me, and we were able to get Kinneret on, but she didn't swallow, indicating that she didn't get any milk. The consultant told me to get a pump and pump 6-8 times a day to bring in a supply.

I tried with no success. Two nights later, I got Kinneret on, got a latch, heard a swallow, and then Kinneret started screaming so I gave her a bottle. When I got up, I saw that I was sitting in a puddle of blood. The bleeding got so bad that I went to the ER that night, and my mom and I spent the whole night there so that the doctors could stop the hemorrhage.

When I tried to nurse again, there was nothing.

Since then, I've been working with a lactation consultant, and pumping to increase the supply, but the most I've pumped in a single session is 20ml. Just for reference, Kinneret generally eats 120-160 ml of milk at a feeding. I'm still working at it, but it's just not going great.

Usually her first feeding in the morning starts with some time on me, but then she'll eat a whole feeding from a bottle after that... so go figure.

Anyway, my point is, I'm sick of people telling me all sorts of stuff about breastfeeding, because I'm sure it's wonderful if you have a body that cooperates and doesn't try to bleed itself to death and all that, but when the body just won't do the job, the whole thing is so depressing.

I comfort myself with the fact that my four older siblings were all bottle-fed back when formula wasn't nearly as well formulated and they're all doing fine. I also comfort myself with the fact that Kinneret is eating some breast milk each day.

And, when I need additional comfort, I think about the people who stick their nose in my business, and I imagine smashing my fist right into their obtrusive nose.

Ahhhh... that's better.

The News

It's been slow going in the blogging arena. Kinneret keeps us on our toes, and there's loads to do. Kelli from Land of Milk and Honey has officially been adopted as my new little sister. She and her husband are here in Israel, comfortably moved into their new home in Modiin. My mom and I have been doing our best to help them get things organized.

It's hard work setting up a house. I've never done it from scratch myself, but I've come close. They literally had nothing, though - no oven, no microwave, no washer/dryer, fridge, nuttin'. So we helped Kelli get a whole mess of price quotes for appliances online. Then we took her to the appliance shop and got them to make us a package of all the nice appliances for about the cost of the quotes we'd collected.

Next, I've been helping them get their cable internet set up. It's not working yet :(

So that's been keeping me busy.

Last week, on Wednesday, my mom, Jeremy, Kelli, and I took Kinneret to a Modiin Miracles baseball game. Sadly the game was called in the bottom of the 7th inning because of darkness. I think the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox were up by 1 run, but the Miracles were going to win!!! (the games are only 7 innings, and the half inning was the Miracles at bat.)

The big news for this week is the Kinneret smiles! She's not doing it consistently or anything, but she does smile sometimes!

The other big news is that my mom is going to China. Despite the lack of interest from my blog-readers, the trip is going, and my mom is taking my 13-year-old niece. I couldn't be happier for her! (Actually, I would be happier for her if I were a bit less jealous. Come on, CHINA?! I want to go to China!!!! But really, I'm very happy for her, especially because she's going to sneak me into her luggage...)

Having kids really does cramp one's style. I wish we could just go someplace exotic and fun, but Kinneret is too young to travel... oh well. Maybe next year.

t.c.

8 Things About Me

I was actually tagged (at least) twice for this meme, but you know, I had a baby and all...
so here goes:
"Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog."

1. I never know what to answer when people ask where I'm from, because I'm an army brat. The question kind of makes me uncomfortable in general. I claim to be from New Jersey, because I went to high school there, even though I lived in NY at the time.

2. I'm obsessed with food. I think about sushi, hamburgers, steak, etc all the time. My first year of college, I ate shawarma almost every day. I've always been obsessed with food. I once cried because my brother had hamburgers without me.

3. I love colored pens, markers, crayons, fancy paper, beads, any art supplies. Unfortunately, I have no artistic talent. I frequently throw out my doodles so that no one will see how bad they are.

4. When I was little, I absolutely adored my sister. She left home for college when I was 7. For years, every item I had that had been hers was "holy" to me, and every time I heard a song that I associated with her, I would burst into tears. When I was in second or third grade, I started crying at a school assembly where we were listening to some singer and he sang something by Billy Joel. (I still adore her, and I live less than a block away from her, but I've gained a bit of perspective.)

5. When I listen to myself, I realize I often sound like an opinionated know-it-all. I hate that about myself. Sometimes I don't know how to stop it, though.

6. Even though I grew up in the US, the last time I visited, I felt like the only thing about me that wasn't foreign was my accent. I had absolutely no sense of coming home or coming back, even when I was in places I'd been before.

7. I'm pretty good at Texas Hold'em poker, and I once played online for money and made about $25 in a very short time. I was playing on an account owned by the company I worked for, so I didn't get to keep the money. I'm not as good at other types of poker, and I'm downright awful at backgammon, even though I wrote many sites about backgammon. (and yes, backgammon is more skill than luck)

8. Since I named my daughter Kinneret, several people have told me about relatives of theirs named Kinneret. It's always the same person - Kinneret Meyer who teaches in the English Literature department at Bar Ilan. I never took a course with her, though, because she teaches more classical literature, and I prefer more modern stuff.

Tagging: There's no one left to tag. Everyone I know has been tagged, except DrSavta.