Just Call Me Mama, MPH!

Hello everyone, it has been a while! That's because I was busy finishing up my last projects and assignments EVER! I am very relieved, proud, and excited to report that I have FINISHED all of the requirements for my Masters degree in Public Health with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health. This weekend I graduated and received my diploma, so I am officially an MPH Mama! Here are some photos of this weekend's festivities

Checking out the program

Cutie pie!

Can you spot me?

Waving to my fan club

Ahhhh!

So much cuteness.

Jumbotronned!

Out of focus, but too cute not to share

I can't decide who is cuter!

Penalty boxed!

She doesn't seem to mind

Baby's first bike ride! It was such a beautiful day and she loved it (except the process of getting in)

Here we go! (Notice I didn't actually bike in the gown... pretty sure that would be hazardous)

Babies in helmets... need I say more?

Post-graduation, Grandma and GradRaj babysat while we had a much needed date night! I don't have any pictures from that, but I will say that the cheesecake at Tres Gatos was kiiiind of amazing.

The next day, they babysat AGAIN so we could clean the basement. Since cleaning is not at all exciting, you get to see all the fun they had without us:

Waving to GrandRaj at the Tot Lot

Put 'em up!

Obsessed with stairs!

Looks like someone was eating the sand again

Checking out the lilacs at the Arboretum

As our student speaker, Christina, said yesterday, the first question people ask when they find out you graduated is "what's next?" First, I intend to enjoy a relaxed summer with my cute little peanut, as well as do some blogging for the Massachusetts Friends of Midwives (MFOM). Second, I am seriously considering several certifications (not at once of course): postpartum doula, lactation counselor, and childbirth educator. After that, I may try to freelance a bit, as well as partner with local organizations such as community health centers. I am also looking for part-time, flexible jobs... basically it is still quite open ended, but I kind of like it that way right now. Many possibilities! There, now you don't have to ask me about it ;-) All right, I have been far too productive today... time to watch some Parks and Rec and then get ready for a bike ride (with baby on board) to the Esplanade! Congratulations to all my graduate friends!

It's not easy being curious!

My little butterball has been getting herself into some tricky situations lately. I feel a little bad for taking photos first and helping her out second, but I just can't help myself ;-)

Well let's see here... I came in here to get my leg warmer, but now it's out there...

Maybe if I just...

Oh bother!

Well, I thought I wanted this green block, but this didn't turn out how I'd hoped...

This one was surprisingly difficult to get her out of. We managed in the end! :-)

Happy spring!

Hi friends and family,

Between the worst bout of teething we've ever dealt with and end-of-semester projects, this week has been pretty rough. That's why today's two hour nap (for both me and Baby) and fun in the sun felt even awesomer than awesome! It finally feels like spring is here to stay and we are both thrilled. Grandma came out to meet us at the playground, where Baby crawled around, looked at all the "big kids" with admiration, went on the swings, and had a shoulder ride with lots of belly-laughing involved. Love this little butterball turkey!

Very excited to have her hands out of the wrap so she can pull my hair!

It's bright out here! Time to swap winter hats for sun hats!

I'm really hoping that the two good naps she's taken today are a sign that the worst of the teething is over... it is so hard to see her so uncomfortable!

Busy Baby: Adventures in Mobility

The past couple of weeks have been somewhat incredible in terms of baby's development. She learned to roll back-to-front (and if you follow my facebook posts, this resulted in some significant night-time sleep disruption!), pull up to standing, dance (both seated and standing), and even stand only holding on with one hand. Now she is into EV...ERY...THING!! Here are some of said things:

 Helping with laundry... all the shiny things!

Hmmm... I don't think we're quite there yet, baby!

Behind bars

We're both growing our hair out, so we decided to try some new do's! Hers is significantly cuter than mine. Also, it was significantly harder to take the hair tie out than to put it in :-/

Okay, baby says we better go do something or she's going to get into some more "bad" things! Ciao!

Favorites

Hi everyone,

Sorry it has been so long. The MPH part of MPH-Mama has been really intense this semester! I feel like I literally spend every spare moment (between nursing, playing with, pottying, etc. etc. my baby) working on projects. Two more months until graduation, woohoo!


Anyway, since it has been so long, I decided to do a list of Baby's favorites as a way to update the things she's up to lately. Enjoy!

Favorite foods (besides Mama milk, of course):

Berry pancakes

Orange slices 

Favorite activities:

Trying to stand 

(and looking very brutish in the process)

Crawling, of course

(and causing as much mayhem as possible in the process)

Shaking and chewing on this bottle, for whatever reason

Clapping (still need to get a video of that)

Favorite Sounds to Make:

Abwabwabwa

Mamamama (my favorite, of course!)

She also just started a little "Dadadada," but I haven't captured it on film yet!

Favorite words to hear:

ICE CREEEEEAM!

Favorite book:

Five Little Chicks

Favorite songs:

Wheels on the Bus, Baby Beluga, Bad Blue Jay, Shake your Sillies Out, and No More Monkeys

You were once inside me. I grew you there.

Today I napped with my baby and she was still asleep when I woke up. It felt so nice to snuggle that I stayed there and wrote this poem:

You were once inside me. I grew you there.
I didn't always love having you in there.
Sometimes it made me really sick.
Sometimes I couldn't do things I wanted to do.
Sometimes my back and hips and feet hurt.
Sometimes I was so tired.
Sometimes my ribs hurt from your crazy kicking.

On the day I went into labor,
I was excited to be done with pregnancy
And to get to meet you.
When you were about to be born,
I was excited to be done pushing
And to be done with the pain,
And there was a LOT of pain.

When I first saw you, someone said "here is your baby."
It was hard for me to comprehend.
Here was the being that was kicking me in the ribs.
And making my back and hips and feet hurt.
And making me so tired.
Just yesterday.
Yesterday!
And now here you were.

With the arrival of my milk
Came the arrival of so many love hormones.
More than I had ever felt at once before.
That was when my body knew:
You were once inside me.
I grew you there.

Sometimes I hold you so close
Because I miss having you inside me.
Sometimes you squeeze me back
And even though I'm pretty sure you're just trying to eat my shoulder,
I like to think that you know that you were once inside me.
And that I grew you there.
And you miss it too.

New Year Rewind

Hello again, readers! Here's a recap of our new year celebration:

New Year's Eve morning-- went running shoe shopping with my mama and then met my sister for lunch. Shoe shopping was somewhat difficult because I really wanted to run down the aisle to try each pair, but as soon as I turned to jog away, Baby would totally lose it! I finally had to ask my mom to encourage her to look at some colorful socks so she wasn't just standing there watching me run away. 

How we rang in the New Year: Parent Potluck and Baby Bash 2014! Okay so we didn't really ring in the new year officially because the party went 4-6 pm in appropriate parent-like fashion, but Baby did wake me up at 12:01 am to nurse, so that counts, right?

On New Year's Day, we had mimosas (believe it or not, a party full of young parents is not a good way to go through two bottles of Prosecco) and later went for a 3 mile family run around Jamaica Pond and Baby didn't fuss once! This is a huge breakthrough because I don't think she's ever lasted more than 15 minutes in the jogger without getting upset. It helps that she's now old enough to sit up on her own instead of reclining in the infant hammock thingy, because she can see a lot better. I'm hoping between that new development and my new running shoes, this mama will be able to get into some decent running shape in 2014! (just as soon as I finish recovering from the stomach flu we all caught the day after new year's :-p)