The Present, a true gift

Since little Giselle bell blessed us with her presence I have had the question, "How is being a mother? Amazing huh?" posed to me by many a mother, father, friend, stranger alike. It is of course a rhetorical question because everybody already knows, yes it is amazing! There are million amazing things about Giselle, about being with her all day long watching every little smile and new gesture she makes. There a million other ways in which I've grown, Marcos has grown, how we've grown together.. Yes, I would say I am a much better person for having Giselle in my life. And the world is a much better world for having her too.. If you could measure it on an energy scale I think it would actually surprise us just how much these sweet little ones bring light into every moment. The amount of smiles alone that they put on people's faces really amazes me. The amount of light that radiates from her smile sends joy through my whole body every time I see it, over and over, it never lessens. But at this point I would have to say, so far, the biggest gift she has given me has been living in the present. Being joyfully aware in every moment. Not dreaming or worrying my life away.. Being here with her because it is that wonderful, because she is that amazing. I have never been so aware and present like this. But it has been something I had been striving for for so long. Now that I know what it actually feels like I have been able to apply it to other areas of my life. Enjoying the depth of a song while it is playing, or a bite of delicious food, or a good conversation right as each word comes from our mouths. Being in the present is a gift in itself. It brings fullness and meaning to a life that otherwise, at times for me, got boring or redundant. Now I cherish the quiet moments, I try not to rush through the days waiting for some distant future plans or tapping my toe waiting for my time to arrive. I have found myself and it is all thanks to my little baby doll. It is truly amazing how vibrant life is if you open up to it and allow yourself to really experience it.. Love to you all xoxo

Breastfeeding tip

We had our little girl 2 weeks ago, and my wife has been breastfeeding successfully since the beginning. She has however continued to experience some pretty bad pain each time our Little One attaches. As of two days ago, she has tried a new remedy and it seems like it might be working: after feeding, express a bit of milk and massage it into your nipple.

Other things we've been doing: Lansinol ointment and nipple shields (called soothies). HTH!

-- A happy hubby

PS: There is a "New Dad's" class tomorrow night (Dec 2) near Cabrillo college. Babies welcome. From 7-9 PM at the Montessori School. Free!

Why I loved being pregnant

I was just parusing through pics today of the belly and thinking.. Gosh I loved being pregnant.. One, because I didn't have to suck in my stomach, I have been a life long pop belly.. and two because when people asked me, "Are you pregnant?" I was :) Yes it is a brutal question and I still get it almost six months later.. I have never been good at sucking it in and now with a baby on my hip I let it hang even more.. It is a humbling question though, and I guess a real test of keeping it cool when you want to turn red, start crying and punch whoever asked straight in the mouth.. I had this young dad, who was playing with his daughter really showing off throwing her in the air and making lots of noise (which is cute any other time except that he asked the dreaded question) say to me, "Look what you have to look forward to." At first to me I was like, he means look what I have to look forward to when Giselle is 1 1/2 years like his daughter.. But then he opened his big mouth and said, "So when are you due? What are you 3 or 4 months?" In front of what felt like a line of my whole neighborhood in HollyWood video. I just smiled and politely said, "No I already had her." I tried to be nice poor guy. He didn't know and I hate to hold it against other people because I don't suck it in, but I was thinking, "Freeze right there buddy... Don't you say another word!" But like every well meaning stranger he had to do the back peddle and say, "Oh you must have just had her!" So queue in Marcos, he walks over and hands me our beautiful but hardly brand new 5 1/2 month old :) What can you do? Sit ups?! Yeah, I guess.. But these days I am not very motivated to work out and I am highly motivated to dive into a nice parcel of dark chocolate every night around 7.. Mmmmm... Chocolate ;) The real kicker was when people would ask while I had Giselle in my arms and she was like 4 weeks old.. I would be like, "Damn it lady! Don't you see I just had a baby and right now have the crazy batch of hormones that come with the whole postpartum thing!" Did she really think I was going to break the 'no sex for six weeks' rule just to get a jump start?! How's that for a shot of confidence! :) Then poor Marcos undoubtedly gets the sad look and the, "Do I look pregnant?" Which of course there is only one answer for.. "No baby, of course not.." But then he adds his variation "....You have a chiquitita pancita (which in Spanish means teeny tiny belly) but it's cute..." Bless his heart, although most of the time I would be just fine with, "No of course not." Period. So on the days these sort of questions are presented to us new or old mama's I say, "Hold your head up proud, love your body exactly how it is.. and go find the nearest piece of dark chocolate, it will make you feel better!"

Wow! What a day!

It is Sunday afternoon and I am finally finding myself in the quiet of my own home and mind! Giselle and I buzzed out of the house early to cruise over the hill. We have been going every Sunday to Inner Light Ministries.. A wonderful, uplifting and all encompassing non-denominational church. It is my weekly treat to get over there to get a dose of positive affirmation.. The last three weeks we have had the lucky fortune of meeting Ash (Aunt Ashley) at Inner Light and then getting a nice bite to eat.. Ash is so sweet.. She just loves Giselle bell and every chance she gets she visits with us and calls to check and see how we're doing. It really is amazing how much you can love someone even more for the fact that they love your child. And she doesn't just love her, she adores her! So we made it today for a very appropriate talk on transcending seemingly human obstacles.. Well short after I got put to the test!
After a good visit nearing the end of our breakfast our little gal Giselle started getting fussy.. When I tried to feed her that was it.. She went on a two hour crying fit.. The kind that ties your stomach in knots and will inevitably find you crying with her at some point or another.. My poor baby. I still don't know what it was.. I tried it all. Bouncing, walking, nursing, spoon food, distraction, car ride, laying down, standing up.. Nada. So I ended up putting her in her little vibrating crib where she huffed and puffed her way to sleep within five minutes. Thank you GOD! Times like that I really wish she could talk and tell me what she needed. She hasn't had a spell like that in weeks. It looked like what some would call colic but my instinct tells me it wasn't. I think she was tired and got worked up and couldn't turn herself off.. When we got home ideally I would have rocked her to sleep but due to hours of hearing my babydoll cry, my boobs had swollen to painful proportions and I had to pump for relief.. I will laugh at this story years down the road. But today I think I will take a deep breath, turn the lights down low and hope when she wakes she'll be happy and ready to eat!

New Mama's, Old Friends

Giselle and her friend Diana!

Giselle's 1st bite of food!

I love rice cereal!! More please!!!