One door closes, a better one opens

At least that is what Fredo always says. He's usually right.

Last month our daycare provider told us her husband, and thus the whole family, was getting shipped off to Hawaii. I was so worried. The first 10 daycares I called either had just filled their infant spot, didn't take infants or had recently closed. I asked anyone and everyone. It's hard to find an infant place because there are strict rules on how many a daycare can take, and if they take infants have to have fewer older kids. I did find two centers that had one spot, but after visiting both, realized I much preferred the in-home setting.

So we finally found someone, off base but near it, who had a space. Actually, she wasn't looking to fill it, but some of her older kids were heading off to pre-K soon and she was going to start looking then, but said she'd take us earlier. So we went to meet her and were thrilled! Great house, really well laid out for kids. She's very focused on child development (as opposed to just providing oversight), so works with the kids a lot. You can easily tell how much she enjoys kids. Angelina took to her right away. We did a trial run of one hour last week and while Angelina was a bit nervous at first, she was happy as can be when I returned an hour later.

So next week we start there full time. I have a good feeling about it. I hope Angelina is happy there! To top it off, the babysitter speaks Spanish, so we told her to go ahead and speak Spanish to Angelina. Now she'll be trilingual!

Breastfeeding is good for baby's health

Unfortunately that doesn't hold true for mommy!

Angelina has had a couple of minor colds, and one that was a little bit worse, but generally she's been super healthy. She seemed to come through RSV season, Rotavirus season, and the big outbreak of norovirus we had unscathed (give me some wood to knock on). Me, on the other hand..... I have had a cold with mild flu symptoms (aches, chills, occasional fever) every 2 weeks since, well since Angelina went to daycare. I finally went to see a doctor as I was concerned I had an ear infection -(ears were hurting like hell). No ear infection, which is good, except, what the heck is wrong with me? I thought maybe allergies, but with the aches, chills, and super swollen lymph nodes, seems more like an infection. Why can't I fight it off? I get better after one week, only to get slammed again the following week.

What makes it more fun is I'm still giving talks all over the city about how to prevent flu, as I hack away coughing and speak through a stuffy nose....and tell people they should stay home from work when they're sick. At least I can demonstrate how to cough 'properly' (use your arm to cover your mouth, not your hand!)

The doctor concurred with my assessment - breastfeeding has probably kept Angelina healthy, but she's taking all MY antibodies! Oh well, this will be one of the many mommy martyr moments I can use on her later when other guilt isn't working ;-) (just kidding! I promise not to guilt my kid....)

It’s the Smile That Keeps Me Out of Trouble

Angelina has a little outfit (now too small) that says this.Oh, how true it is. When she’s up all night because she thinks it’s party time, or when she gets all cranky and we’re about to lose our minds because we haven’t slept in days, she smiles. We melt. We’re sold.

What I want to know is, will that still work when she’s 15 and stays out too late with some boy?

Dr. Jekell and Little Miss Hyde

That is our "Angel"

Saturday I decided to paint the entryway beadboard that's chipping lead paint (see
The Money Pit for more on THAT). Of course I couldn't do it with Angelina in the house, so our good friends Ann and Garth agreed to babysit. Angelina does fine with the babysitter, but lately she's had some stranger anxiety.
Though she knows Ann
and Garth, we don't see them as often as we'd like, so I was concerned she might not remember them. She is also back to not eating a whole lot from the bottle. On top of that I was 2 hours later than expected (figures...).So I was a little concerned she'd be screaming and hungry.

Nope! Unless they're only pretending she was an Angel.... they said she was Perfect! She napped 2x, 2 hours each. She didn't eat much but was happy as can be, played, smiled, no fuss.

I nursed her when I got there, she was fine. We get her home, she's cranky. Once it's bed time, try to put her to sleep. nope! Finally she goes out, only to wake an hour later. AND EVERY HOUR AFTER until 6am (or 7am if you changed your clocks) when I finally got up out of bed with her to just start the day. She wasn't horrible, but she was clearly tired. So by 9am with her rubbing her eyes, I try the nap thing - figuring she did 2 hrs yesterday, she really NEEDS that now. So does mommy. Does she nap? Noooooo. She's as wired as can be. We give up. Finally at 2:30pm she decides to nap for all of one hour. Why won't this kid sleep????

I confess I'm partly to blame...I had a coffee Saturday morning. I was so tired (the lack of sleep has been a common theme), and I figured I wouldn't be nursing her all day anyway, the caffeine would go out of my system. But I forgot my pump, and anyway didn't have time to pump due to the painting. I did try the manual pump a few times quickly, but obviously not enough. But she never naps for us, so it's not just the coffee. What trick does everyone else have that we don't have?!

For now, though, I guess I shouldn't complain so much. Since Ann and Garth think she's such an Angel, they've offered to babysit again.

Angelina is learning to love Thai food

No, I'm not feeding her Gai Phad Prik or Som Tum, at least not directly.



It's been three years now since I've been in Thailand. THREE YEARS. I can't believe it's been so long. A place that was such a major part of my life, and I haven't seen it in so long. I've been so nostalgic lately. This was perhaps induced by my friend Glen, who just went to Mae Sot to connect with the SMRU gang, in hopes of doing a med school rotation there. He rapidly fell in love with the place, just like I did. He even went on the Umphang trek, but didn't encounter quite as much mud as I had. And best of all, he met my old friend Kung (who's now a father himself)!

So, to make up for it, I've been eating Thai food. With a vengeance. The more I eat, the more I want. The spicier the better. I've tried a few Thai restaurants in San Antonio, all so-so. With mom here I finally decided we needed to try Thai Cafe - it's waaaay across town, in an area I never go, have no reason to be near really. But oh so worth the drive! Oh the Sum Tum!!!! I haven't had that since I left Thailand (even tho I have the container to make it, finding green papaya is not possible - the restaurant gets it from Houston). I just wanted to sit and listen to the staff speaking Thai. I realized how much I'd forgotten. Then the following week, I was in another area for a meeting, looking for a place to eat lunch, and stumbled upon Thai restaurant I'd never heard of. They had Khao Mun Gai. And it was GOOD. That same day I went back to the other restaurant and got 3 things for dinner for take away, which lasted us a few days. Then I went back again, and again. And will probably go again next week. Yes. I am addicted to GOOD Thai food. I need chiles (prik), ginger (king), fish sauce (nam pla), curry (gaeng) among other things.

As for our little munchkin? Well, since she's still nursing more times per day than I can count, she gets the Thai food indirectly. So far, she doesn't seem at all bothered by it, fortunately. I would rather have given up all dairy than to have to give up Thai food!

So I'll leave with some pictures of my days there, though the people in the photos are Karen, rather than Thai. They remind me of a special time.

That's a baby being weighed at WaleyKe. My midwife in San Antonio uses the same gadget to weigh babies. It works very well!


I made a new little friend, he's telling his mommy about the crazy lady taking pictures...


And Mawkerti

For more on those days, check out the archives January 2006.

And Kung, if you're reading, have a Beer Chang for me (and maybe a gin and tonic too).