burgeoning by proxy

Babies abound in my world right now, ranging from the newly arrived to the burgeoning future. Welcome to Adira, to the Peanut, to the new S-K baby (to whom I'm losing one of my favorite lurkers, but what the hell - I'm all about the sacrifice for others), and whee! over rounding tummies (note to self: call sister in law, ask if nausea has abated. If not, stay discreetly out of range). Not myself caught up in the production and management process, I'm nonetheless enjoying this immensely.

And on that note, I found this: a debate is raging as to whether epidurals affect breastfeeding success. The poor epidural, first it's linked to increased chances of c-sections, now to sleepy babies? I remember the gently puzzled look on the face of one of my favorite anasthesiologists, asking, honestly, but why would you want it to hurt? Havers, dear, by no means. But the baggage the poor epidural is acquiring is enough to make anyone think about backing, slowly, away. According to Grandmere, ask a room full of lactation consultants, and they will all say that yes, epidurals are linked to sleepy babies. But do lactation consultants write medical journal articles? Maybe they deputize...

in different news, Frida Bee has arrived in Inman Sq! Yesterday was their first day open, and I was able to browse some wonderful secondhand children's clothing. I scored with a great pair of lined corduroy overalls, plus a lined fleece sweater for the Toddles. Growing at a tremendous rate, he's far outmatched the clothes I set aside from the Eldest. Yikes.

Good to have a place to buy gently used kids' stuff, other than ebay. And the shop is a sweet one...but then, I don't need much of an excuse to visit Inman Sq these days, between 1369 Coffeehouse, Stellabella (the toy store, which is excellent and a Must Avoid - bad for our pretenses to a budget), and of course, Christina's ice cream...All of which will be open Thursday night, in the Shop Inman by Moonlight event. And each year, Christina's resident genius creates chocolate flavors of ice cream for the event. So come Thursday, at about 7pm, you all know where I will be!

In case you were wondering, this chocolating experience will be medicinal. Having survived three nights of lousy, roseola-inspired sleep, we promptly embarked on a trial of cornstarch. The theory being, the allergist said, that children are allergic to the proteins of a food, so a starch wouldn't necessarily have any protein. Let's worry less about exposure, and more about figuring out exactly how strict we need to be, he said. Two nights of a screaming, scratching Toddles later, I looked at the bags under his eyes, compared them to the bags under mine, and slipped him some Benadryl. He slept nicely....until it wore off.

Experiment over. Time for chocolate.
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In case anyone is wondering, yes,the boys are currently available for bridal consultations. Having accompanied a certain Canadian on two wedding dress expeditions, they are now able to knowledgeably discuss gauze vs tulle, beading with pearls vs with brilliants, and of course, the ever important corset back.

Yes, for the price of a good, strong cafe au lait (for me), my children will dive in and out of ridiculously expensive dresses, wrap themselves in veils, and play ball with tiaras.

On second thought, make that misto with a shot of scotch.