How to bathe a baby octopus

The short answer is quickly. But in case you find yourself with a wet wiggly one, he's a quick list of how baths tend to go at the Harris house.

1. Most important! Set up the tub and towels ahead of time. If I forget this critical step I'm sure to be fishing Lennon out of the toilet.

2. Strip down your wee one AS YOU WALK TO THE BATHROOM. Yes, this process starts at the other end of the house with unsnapping the onsie.

3. Turn on water and watch babe clammor up the side of the tub. Hurry and you can also unsnap the diaper and let it fall to the floor before he notices.

4. Baby + Bath ASAP. Lennon doesn't even mind if the water is a little warm or cool. He wants in. But I can't relax just yet, since he immediately stands up to play in the running water. We do a frightening amount of standing in the bathtub. Ugh.

5. Once the bath is full, insert ducky and ball. Here's a chance for several seconds of rest. Ducky is fun for a minute or so unless you really work it. I've managed to entertain for upwards of 5 minutes on a good day. Also, squirting water and splashing is hilarious.

6. It's unlikely you've made it this far with the standing and climbing out efforts. This is a great time to soap up and rinse off arms, legs, belly, bum and back.

7. When the splashy fun ends, help baby octopus out on one of the climbing efforts. Since the towels are all ready to go, you can dry while baby tries to climb back into the tub.

8. Swoop up babe and head to the bedroom wrapped up in adorable towel. I'm always nervous about this step since there's no time for a diaper but so far so good.

And there you have it! Clean and cute baby octopus. Ready, set, go!

Friday Fun

As many of you know, I pracrice Ashtanga yoga which means each day I do one of a couple different sequences.  Yes, that's the same series of postures over and over and over again.  Honestly, I love the routine and the slow but steady progress it brings.  Recently, I've started have a little fun at the end of the week by throwing in a posture I don't normally work on.  Usually this is inspired by a picture I've seen or a conversation I've had.  Last week when my fun posture went better than expected, I videoed it.  Here are the results...

I know, I know.  It's not quite right just yet and it's totally not my style to post something a bit raw but I thought what the heck, it's Friday Fun after all.

Peace at last

Yesterday we dropped Matthew Sweeney off at the airport and finished the evening by having dinner with a yoga friend. At long last, the Sweeney event at our studio has come to an end. I feel good about the week. Logistically, everything seemed to work out, my practice went well, and I had a most amazing opportunity to assist Matthew. It was wonderful.

The week before we attended a week long Sweeney intensive in Durham, NC. It was excellent as usual with some interesting side notes. Since we were traveling with Lennon and had to be right back to host our own workshop, we flew rather than driving. Lennon's first airplane ride was a success and he was a trooper the whole time.

I'm returning to this post a week after I started. It's been hard to get back in the swing of practicing, especially considering the moon day last week. I did second for the first time in well over a week. Kapo was rusty but still there... Thankfully.

It finally feels like things gave settled down both at home and at the studio. Back to business as usually, daily practice upstairs, by myself and trying to convert everyone I meet into any ashtangi. A girl can hope.

5 Months

Lennon is five months old today...
He can roll over and sleep on his tummy. His two front teeth are sprouting up and his hair is coming in much thicker. Yesterday, he ate bananas with milk for the first time. He has met all his aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas and even great grandmas and great grandpas he loves the household pets, being outside and standing.

I am five month post-partum...
I am still nursing. I know how to wash cloth diapers and rock a baby to sleep. I know a variety of songs to be sung while bouncing a baby on my knee and can tie up a sleepy wrap in less than a minute. I'm 10lbs. away from my weight goal. I'm back practicing six days a week and have been working where I left off in Intermediate Series. I have a wonderful husband who is active in Lennon's life and great support from family and friends.

I'd say all is well.

A Little Vaca

Last week, Lennon, Evan and I met my parents at a little camping resort in Mt. Carroll, Illinois. This trip was especially nice since the drive was just about 1.5 hrs. Enough for a baby to take a rest and play by himself just a bit. My parents had lots of time to visit with Lennon. They even took over for a while so E and I could sit on the little bridge each evening.

The little cabin was nice and the location was great. It seemed very family friendly with a pool, playground and plenty of room to run around. I'm thinking a family camping outting in a couple of years. It must have been off season still and the place was nearly deserted.

Lennon felt all this was way too exciting to sleep. Thank goodness for the hour long drive to Galena and back. I'm still working out the details of the best way to carry a baby around and shop. On this trip I used the sleepy wrap. Great for walking and wine tasting. :)

More adventures with Lennon coming soon. We are headed to Carbondale this weekend to visit with Evan's Pa.

And Now...

It's a new dawning at the Harris House.  Lennon has decided he now sleeps on his tummy.  And just like that, we have a totally new routine.

It came as a shock, and I freaked out the first evening. I think I check on Lennon every five minutes or so to be sure he was still breathing. I also googled the topic and between check-ins, read thread after thread about when it's ok for babe to sleep in his belly. How anyone every accomplished anything without google, I do not know.

Swaddling is now out, regardless of how much I like the tiny lions on this lovely cotton cloth. Sleeps sacks or gasp... nothing is now in. We rock L down as usual, lat him in the crib when he's asleep and watch as he curls into a little ball and rolls onto his tummy. It's so cute. For now, this is what we do.

Practice Notes

After a just over a week of shortened or interrupted practice sessions, I got in a complete practice today! Yay! Splitting thru Kapo, press-ups, drop-backs, handstand practice, "drop-over" practice and closing. Drop-overs is in quotes because it's mostly a kick up and then fall into urdva right now.
:-/
Flexibility is back to around 80%, strength and endurance hovering around 70% of my former self. All and all, four months out and I'd say it's not to shabby. Wanna know the secret??? Yes! Consistency! Everyday, everyday even if it is just a half an hour or I have to wait for the next nap to come around. I'm hoping to be back up to speed in July. I'm also thinking Kino at the end of May is very possible.
Who's in???