Milk and Ink: From the Lap of Mama Nomad...

Mayan Grace is officially six years old

2008-07-21T22:03:00.000-07:00

I feel like since my baby, my first child, has completely shed not only her baby-ness but all signs of toddlerhood somehwere in the last few years, that I should have some epic downpouring of reflection to mark this occasion...but I don't. She just IS. And it happened so gradually, so sweetly and intense, that I barely even recall what it was like to hold her as an infant, or how her face looked if it were not for photographs. When I see her then in a picture I marvel how that face and body could have morphed into the face and body I see before me today. But there she is, and I've always thought the best adjective to describe Mayan IS Mayan--she's become her own adjective. Spunky, bright, curious, sassy all in somewhat of a laid-back manner. I've always questioned how to wrange her potent spirit and guide it best, without having it burn out of control, or just burn out--I've always wondered how best to be her mother, and I've veered in many directions, but have come to terms that no matter how I parent her, SHE will always come though in the end. I need to worry less, and enjoy her more because it's truly fascinating getting to know how she works. Sometime when I see a quality that I envy in her I realize its something she has gotten from me--that helps center me. I am the Mother of Mayan, and I am forever changed for the better.

Whoa, I guess I did have something to say about it....:-)

Here was our day today:

fried chicken tenders are the perfect beach food: fill a ziplock bag with 2 parts rice flour, 1 part tapioca flour and 1/2 part flax meal, plus a few tsp of salt and a few tsp of dry mustard powder. dip some chicken pieces (this time i did tenders but drumsticks are great too) in a shallow pan with rice milk, then place then in the flour-mix bag and shake shake shake to coat. fry them in an inch of high-heat cooking oil (safflower or canola)

a little sisterly sand burying

blake is on dogs-not-on-leash-patrol

my beautiful daughter

my how they grow!!!

surprises awaited us when we returned!

cookie made a jewelry box--and sent other great things like a bike basket and bike horn--watch out knapp street!

what is that flash of white, you ask? its the girls so excited about the dresses that uncle walter and uncle bruce sent that they could not wait to try them on

darling, eh?

the chocolate "butterfly" cake....i wonder what her wish is!

thanks to all her who called and sent gifts. mayan kept declaring all day what a perfect birthday it was. she was full of gratitude by the end of it all. love!

Isa-FOUR!

2008-07-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

It's still 5 weeks away (Mayan's birthday is this coming Monday) but it has really been sriking me lately how incredible it is that Isadore is going to be FOUR. I am just as stuck that Mayan will be SIX (it seems to be like entering into a whole nother dimension of childhood as the teeth fall out and they become "school-aged") but seeing Isadore become a big sister to George has helped me see into her personality a bit better. Since Mayan goes to work with Blake a few times a week, I have the honor of spending more focused time with Isadore and watch her new role as "older sibling" develop--she adores George and adopts all of the pet names for him that we have, sweetly singing them to his face while he lights up like a tree at her attention. I am definitely seeing a relationship blossom between them that I have not seen between Mayan and him (Mayan claims she's been through all of this before--the new sibling thing--and plays it very cool.)

Here are some pics she took of us the other day:

Currently, black is her favorite color; her thing for ninjas has made a comeback, especially since I bought her these leggings with an attached skirt at a thrift store a few weeks ago. If she sees anyone wearing all black she says "Look, a ninja!" Or if I am wearing black pants and a colored top she tells me I am "half-ninja." She told me that last night she had a dream about ninjas--there was a good ninja and a bad ninja, and the good ninja saved her from danger so they got married. "Getting married" is her equivalent to any sort of love right now. She asks Blake to marry her everyday, and if she likes something I cook she tells me will be married in the morning. Look closely and you miiiight be able to spot her:

Ah, there she is, my sweet little ninja!

stop and smell the baby

2008-07-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

Today, after putting on something cute and making sure my purse had all the appropriate diaper-bag things, I grabbed my Anthropologie bag to go exchange a top I had recently purchased. The girls were still helping Blake build the fence out front, and George, my constant companion was changed and recently nurse and ready as well. I realized though that I didn't actually know where I was going--Bridgeport Villiage in Tigard had the shirt I needed (I had just spoken with them on the phone to confirm the exchange.) So as I mapquested this uber-shopping-mecca, guess who passed out in my arms? Oh, yes, Mr. Man. Baby Meat Fat. Little Georgie Boy. Is that a big deal, you ask. Well, it is. I say it all the time but George-Ephraim is such a good sleeper. At least compared to my other children he is. When I know he is tired, I merely swaddle him up and bind the swaddle with my American Apparel scarf (who knew it had such a perfect other purpose?) then lay him down in his Moses basket or in the purple baby hammock that hangs in our dining room. Sometimes he need to suck on my finger for a few minutes, other times just a few minutes of bouncing, or otherwise he just "meeps to sleep" gazing at the grass-woven grasshopper mobile. He'll sleep like this for a long time--maybe 2-3 hours, and usually twice a day. I used to either nursing or wearing my children to sleep. I feel very productive as he sleeps this way, and at times wait for him to awake b/c I miss him. On days where we are out-and-about, he takes little naps between the car seat and sling but is past that can-sleep-through-anything-newborn phase, and by teh end of the day is pretty cranky for a big fat nap...again I just swaddle and bind, and lay him own in his bassinet and he's out like a light. He sleeps his first night-time stretch between 4 and 7 hours (7 is our best yet and it only happened once). I use that time to read, connect with B, and sleep a few hours in any position I want without a hot baby body next to me. When he finally does fuss anywhere between 2 and 4, I scoop him up and pop a boob in his mouth and he nurses on and off the rest of the night, and we sleep until 9 or so. This is the routine we are all getting accustomed too. Which brings me back to my story. not since the first few weeks has he really napped ON me. So when he passed out in my arms today, I could not resist. Screw Anthropologie (yes, I said it!!) it can wait. I moved to my rocking chair and listened to U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind while just studying his sweet face--the round baby nose, pale yellow eye crusties clinging to his eyelashes, the poochy overbite and delicate chin, and the sweat-soaked curls smashed against my chest. With a family of five in full force, I wasn't sure if I would have the chance again for a long while. I thought to myself sometimes in life you just have to stop and smell the sleeping baby.

it's so easy!

2008-07-05T18:04:00.000-07:00

i have never made my own playdough before....until today! it's SO EASY! six years into motherhood and i wonder what took me so freakin' long?

this is what you need:

1 cup flour (don't waste your good organic flour on this like i did)
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon oil
1/4 cup salt
food coloring

huck all but the coloring in a pot and stir over medium heat:

once it smooths then starts to chunk up add the coloring:

keep stirring until it forms into a ball and looks doughy:

plop it onto the counter and knead it until blended--careful, its hot!

i had royal blue and ivory food coloring and these were the colors we made:

let it cool before handing it to your cute kids (or grandkids or neices and nephews...) to make cute stuff:

keeps moist for a long time in airtight containers.
enjoy!

10 pictures of George's first beach trip

2008-07-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

last monday we headed west toward the ocean--i've been dying to go to the beach since last fall but in oregon you only get nice beach-weather in the summer. the closest town is Seaside and the closest beach is called Ecola State Park (sounds like E coli but i am sure this beach was named long before the bacteria made headlines)--it took us an hour and a half to get there with minimal kid-flooping (classic parent-kid conversations along the way: how much longer? has it been and hour and a half yet? no, it's been fifteen minutes. oh, can have a snack? sorry, the food is in the trunk; we'll picnic when we get there. oh....will you hand me that book? *sigh*) of course, mr. best-baby-ever didn't make a peep until we pulled into the beach parking lot. it was not to hot day i anticipated, but luckily we all had extra hoodies in the trunk; it ended up pretty cloudy and coolish the whole time but it didn't rain--blake deemed it perfect weather since he dislikes the sun anyway. i love how the beach is a large section of smooth rocks before the sand starts...we pulled up a piece of driftwood for a bench on the egde of the rocks and layed out our stuff on the sand. despite the cool temps, it didn't take long for the girls to strip down to their suits and chase the surf. george-ephraim just meeped and squinted in his stylish american apparel hoodie. after a while, blake had a flashback to when he and his sister explored tide pools so we took a walk toward some giant rocks in the distance, and sure enough we found some starfish and sea anenomes. the three of them were so cute looking for sea creatures! all-in-all, a successful family-of-five day trip to the beach...maybe next time we'll stay overnight in a yurt!

a self-family-portrait success!

it's no wonder his nickname is "baby meat fat"

team chait, the reunion, pirates, and smiles

2008-06-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

let's get started, shall we?

team chait (hawk, allison, max, and nina) graced us with a short but very sweet visit a few weeks ago. we love this family and miss them terribly.

mayan is sure she will be marrying max when they are older. we took the kids to omsi.

the Nomad shirts have arrived!

B is actually quite silly on occasion.

this is where george-ephraim takes his mid-day naps--our friend rich made this baby hammock and it rules! the grasshopper mobile is from a jeweler that blake knows and it also rules.

very special--all of the cousins from the perlingieri side come together (mayan, chemynne holding george, athena, and isadore)

it was a great day for a family reunion!

avia brought mayan a rocking chair from england (and she literally bought it in england and lugged it here) circa 1870. happy early birthday, mg!

keeping it together!

avia reading a bedtime story to all of her grandkids

the breeders (minus a napping baby g)

running with scissors

baby g's first photo shoot

2008-06-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

ah, we are so lucky! our dear friend Amy at Funky Wonder did a shoot for us at Nomad just before George-Ephraim's first moon celebration and, of course, the results are breathtaking...

in arms

the biggest sister

george-ephraim in a basket (oh, the hair!)

so handsome

adornment

little boy nomad

whisker kisses

father and son

the nomad family (looking straight out of a magazine spread)

family of five

mommy's little chunk

through the museum case

i, g, m

bright eyes

edible

so, amy and i were belly-sisters--due just a few days apart. she ended up having her baby boy Max exactly 2 weeks before I had George and this was her first photo shoot since the birth. we just had to get pics of the boys together and it proved to be hilarious! i don't know how she captured it but here is the shot that had us all rolling....

max and his little birdie

don't worry, my boy ended it, quick and cool-like--LOL!

THANK YOU, AMY--for capturing the beauty of our lives to enjoy forever and for being so great to work with!

shout out to auntie NaNa

2008-05-29T22:55:00.000-07:00

Check out Flesh and Bones: Tales of a nurse and chef's wife--my sister's blog, which she recently updated with pics from her visit a few weeks ago...also, if you are into it, scroll back and she often does posts of exciting ER nurse stories!

For George-Ephraim's First Moon

2008-05-27T16:36:00.000-07:00

fruitful

you were not real to me
until i reached down and felt
the sopping curls exit me
and i spilled your body onto our sheets

the fruit of my undamaged womb
the crying proof of my reproductive wholeness
...and to hear the words on my husband’s lips!
to see the tears dance in his eyes

“a boy!”

adding roundness to our circle, our tribe
a male, a son, our fruitful earth worker
the unmistakable face of a third George
(the first born in 1907 and again in 1941)

the hair that first introduced us
now dried to the sparkling delicious locks of your father
pink lemonade “Lou” lips
fat of my milk on your skin...

these first moons with you
studying your pages: written of my own flesh
the impermanence of it all
tears tenderly at my heart

and while my own newborn-ness is reflected
in your soft, unfocused gaze
my mother-knowledge (taught to me by your sisters)
allows me to answer your lusty calls
with a calmness that comes only from experience

i have been broken in for you

--for George-Ephraim’s first moon

another week in pics

2008-05-25T15:05:00.001-07:00

false alarm on the early summer thing! now its rainy it was much cooler this week. got our first thunderstorm since we moved here last night though, and that was a treat...

we had some stress/excitement this week. i ran into a great old friend at new seasons who i hadn't seen/spoken too in years--i was in the parking lot slinging George and i called her name.....and she turned around and had a newborn in her arms! she came over this week to visit and her mom, who is awesome, came along too. we had a great time catching up and hearing each others birth stories...but before they left her mom mentioned that i should have george-e's heart listened too...sometimes his limbs get purple, its kind of freaky. i spent the next day looking for a pediatrician and luck led me to the perfect fit for us--dr. pritchard and her nurse practitioner sue (who once specialized in pediatric cardiology of all things), gave up their lunch break to see us the next day. he looked and sounded great to them, but just to be super-sure she recommened we see the ped cardiologst at OHSU's dornbecher children's hospital--they fit us in right away and we had a good experience there. everyone swooned over mr. handsome and after an EKG they deemed him absolutely perfect. i wish i would have gotten a picture actually, of him getting the EKG, 'cause he sure looked cute with his wool soaker pants with the stickers all over his chest.

the same day all of this was going down, blake had his own excitement--he got to visit the basement of the Portland Art Museum and go through the archives of undisplayed artifacts. like a kid in a candy store! him and their newest assistant curator are gearing up to do an overhaul of the current exhibit. pieces from the Nomad collection will finally get some glory in a big museum...its all very exciting and blake SO deserves this.

so back to the week in pics, in chronological order:

our fabulous midwives--beth, marilyn, and melissa, at our 3 week check-up.

do you see the happy in his eyes?? blake in the basement at PAM

mayan holding george-e

such a sweet face

he sure is filling out! look at those "breastmilk cheeks"

mayan made this cute paper collar for Humper

baby bling! papa made baby G his first piece of jewelry for his first moon celebration

ooooh, psychadelic newborn.....

one hot week in pdx

2008-05-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

breaking records this week in portland with temps in the 90's. what happened to having a spring? last week i was protecting my garden from hail and freezing temps, this week we were scrambling for shorts and sunblock. here is this week in pictures:

best of all, Naomi was here visiting from LA...the last day she was here we visited the Japanese Gardens in Washington Park:

later, we introduce George to Nomad:

(one of the girls took this, i am not sure which one....)

after all the sweatin', poor George-Ephraim had a heat rash so i figured out a way to bathe him comfortably without him crying....he seemed comfy on his towel in a huge metal bowl, and sister Isadore helped, too. he sure is chunking up fast:

Saturday was the children's fair at Leach Botanical Gardens down the street, always a treat, and this time Breana and crew got to join us:

it was seriously HOT on Saturday afternoon, so i let the girls run through the sprinklers...is there anything more GREAT for a kid than sprinklers on a hot day??:

today, we went to a birthday party for our friend Kieran....what a cute bunch of kids!:

Mama and Papa and George from Isa-view:

fianlly some random faces of George-Ephraim. first, a silly sleepy grin:

then, bored:
mr. sweaty:
and the pucker-face "huh?" look that i love so dearly:

it is supposed to cool off again this week so we'll have a break. i have a check-up with the midwives on tuesday--i am sure baby G is 10 pounds already! love to all....

how do i slow time?

2008-05-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

these first few weeks have been absolutely wonderful.....we are adjusting beautifully to being a family of five. blake contines to be a huge help and since i took it so easy the first two weeks, i am feeling very refreshed and healed and ready to get back to semi-normal routine--which is already pretty laid-back.

George and I....me and George. what can i say...we love each other. last week i was sitting my rocking chair with tears welling in my eyes, so full of love and thinking "does he love me as much as i love him??" but its clear.....the feeling is mutual. it seems even my smell comforts him. he is a very mild-mannered baby up to this point. i think all temperments of babies are "good' and should be respected (i think the question "is he a good baby?" is ludacris.....some babies are high-need and others are less high-need but one is not more "good" than the other.) but George has surprised me. the way he acted in the womb worried me: very responsive and seemingly rambunctious--i thought FOR SURE he was going to give Mayan run for her money. but i think i mistook the "responsiveness" for high energy. when infact he is so-far very responsive just to me. he doesn't fuss much, but when he does get upset, its like zero to 60 in no time flat--just quiet to suddenly crazy wailing. but all i have to do is pick him up and he immediately soothes. he tolerates others holding him for a little bit, but will get fussy and again, quiets immediately when i take him. none of my other babies were ever this responsive to my presence/touch. i can easily put him to sleep with some strokes on the head or just being snuggled in my arms. the girls needed so much more work! Mayan demanded boob almost constantly and would cry bloody murder if you took the nipple out of her mouth or put her down even in a deep sleep. Isadore was easier to put down and would fall asleep on her own early on, but still was a mystery in the evenings during what many families call "happy hour"--that 2 hour evening period of unconsolable crying that had no explanation. knock on wood, George is just really chill and we are very connected, i feel, much deeper and sooner than i felt with the girls. i mean, i was IN LOVE with the girls as newborns and could not stop gazing at them....maybe my memory fades, but it feel so deep with my new boy.

is that because he is "my boy"? i always thought that i would have boys since i had so many male friends growing up, so when i was very surprised when i had both girls.

my other theory is that maybe i'm more relaxed with this child because it is my third...i've got the newborn and parenting thing down (yeah, right!) but my less-anxious state is transferred to the baby. they can sense these things, i am sure... i just don't get all in a twizzle when he starts to cry lustily in the back seat while i'm driving, at least not like i did with #1.

the last theory, though, that came to me was from a comment my mom made when she was visiting last week. she said he looked so alert and then said "because he was never on any drugs!" and it struck me slowly that, it's true, this is the first baby i had that not only was drug-free at birth, but i have had NO separation from since birth--no interuptions even! is it possible that Georges mellow nature and our record-deep connection stems from the fact that we finally achieved a natural, non-evasive birth and were able to foster the newborn-mama connection exactly the way nature intended?

i'll never really KNOW, and it could of course be a combination of things like most things are...but i wonder and feel deeply that this birth was the purest and most significant event in my life thus far....and its hard to imagine anything topping it! and here he is, the result of this wondrous event, my baby boy, with clear bright eyes, silky beautiful hair, pouty mouth, and darling expressions, who gazes lovingly at me for a good part of my day....it hard to NOT want time to stop. i am soaking it up the best i can..soaking, soaking, soaking......

my mom with baby G

George says to the paparazzi "no more pictures, please!"

i've perfected the newborn high-back carry with makes housework and cooking possible!

one week of baby george

2008-05-04T20:34:00.001-07:00

i am pretty sure he looks a lot like i did as a baby.

bonding with MG

a snuggle in the papa pit

body shot. i call these "muppet legs."

who is to say it's just gas?

how i got some house work done.

i can't go very long with a hold-and-gaze. oh, mr. kissable!

i found this self-portrait of isadore to be stunning!

oh, yes, he also cries.

i've officially fallen very hard for mr. george-ephraim. tragically hard. oh, dear, my heart simultaneously aches and sings for him. is it strange to sometimes want to stuff him back into me where not harm can come to him? i went to make salad dressing while he slept and i missed him. oh, how i love my little boy!!

for the birth lovers

2008-05-01T17:48:00.000-07:00

i started a whole new blog for the birth story since it is complete with pictures and all the lovely details. those who want to read it can go here:

milk and ink: the birth

have fun!

keeping up with baby g

2008-04-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

tell me this not the cutest george you've ever seen?

look! milk flows so freely here, even mayan is producing! hehehhee

oh my god, who does baby g's hair?
(danielle, this blanket rules!)

post-first-great-nursing after the milk came in

duh, we just realized that we haven't taken a family photo yet. this is the best we can do for now:

and these last two are specially for the chef and his wife!

Day two

2008-04-28T22:11:00.000-07:00

your comments are overwhelmingly sweet--THANK YOU!!!!!

here are some more snibbets of our day...

okay, back to bed for me....i huuuuuuuurt! can i just say though that blake and the girls are taking SUCH good care of baby g and me....it's incredible--i have three square meals and snacks and cookies and always a full glass, plus the house is spotless! i told blake he is putting my domestic skills to shame--lol!

Announcing....

2008-04-27T16:24:00.000-07:00

Baby G

(George-Ephraim Blake Perlingieri)
born April 27th, 2008
2:23 AM
7 pounds, 9 ounces!!!!
active labor: about 7 hours

After I posted, Blake got home around 7 and sure enough things picked up to 4 minutes apart and they got much more intense.

8:30pm: the girls head to bed but we assure them that they will be woken up when the baby comes...
and by 11pm my smile has turned to this:

and then, after 2 hour in the bath, to this:

But by half past 2, the smile is back....because Baby G is here!!!

As promised, the girls were woken just in time thanks to our quick across the street support, Breana. Mayan was enthralled by the while process but Isadore upon hearing the news of her brother, smiled and headed right back to bed.

Blake holds his son:

...and stays by his side while the 'wives check him out:

After some sleep, we reconvene as family and a clear-headed Isadore comes to see whats up:

I think she approves!

Here is our boy!! Yes, I believe his utter cuteness fits right in...

Little boy blue:

He has the Lou lips...and look at that hair!

Oh, smootchy smootchable!

just another reason why having your baby at home rules--breakfast with the fam in bed while watching some videos. no interuptions, no hospital food, and the comfiest bed ever...

uh-oh..i am IN LOVE

George-Ephraim translates to "fruitful earthworker"...George is the name of Blake's dad and Grandpa. (we are still working out the spelling of Ephraim which is pronounced EF-rem)

Look at what we made!!!! And we had him at home!!!!

(Birth junkies/MDC mama's: I will post the real details of the birth on the thread when me and the thread are back in action)

could it be today?

2008-04-26T17:53:00.000-07:00

i woke up around 9am to some strange new contractions that felt at first crampy, then like they were grabbing at my cervix. i laid there and waited....sure enough another rolled around....could it be? i was happy that my reaction was not that of "oh, craaaaaap" but more of excitement...nervousness, really, but i wrangled it into excitement as soon as it occurred to me that i might "scare off" the contractions that i have have really been hoping for. not that i am excited to be in labor...but i don't want to go too long and start having more worries that maybe something is wrong with me, blah blah blah, and i am anxious to meet our new baby.

so i stayed side-lying for a good 45 minutes, and i had one about every 7 minutes. some were intense, others petered out before they got big. none lasted for very long, maybe 20-30 seconds. blake brought me breakfast in bed (not unusual) but i didn't say a peep, again didn't want to syke myself out. i ate my scrambled eggs and ham with toast...they still kept coming. so i finally got up and peed and had another good sign that these contractions were doing something significant: lots of mucus. i headed downstairs with a silly, nervous grin on my face, and met the family out back where the sun was shining (finally)--blake was in great spirits and exclaimed "isn't this the perfect day?!" they had already started weeding the lavendar bed. i just grinned and said "yes...it is a perfect day....maybe to have a baby?" i told him what i was feleing but we both played it super cool. we're professionals, we know when to get excited and when to ride it out. we headed to breanas to borrow her lawn trimmer, and i let her in on the haps, still playing it cool but of course she was all excited. we told her that blake was still headed to work-as-usual and she said she'd run her errands quickly then come back just to be at my disposal.

i went on as usual as well--sitting at the computer slowed things down, going outside and weeding felt good, but also my hands were really tight and puffy and it made that task difficult. i sat on the pot for a while and there was lots of bloody mucus--i knew my cervix was doing something good! i decided to call the wives just to let them know where i was at. wondered if they wanted to come and take my blood pressure since my hands were so puffy and i'd had slightly elevated bp last visit. but the oh-so-calm beth assured me that it had just been a little high for me, and i'd had no protein in my urine or any other signs of concern this whole time--the puffiness for me is not worrisome. keep about my normal routine and call if there were changes. can do! i took a nice shower and had a snack of cottage cheese and canned pears, my new favorite snack. so white trash, i know...

breana came home and the girls went to hang there for the afternoon while i rested--by rested i mean i ate cookies and drank milk and watched a few episodes of "what not to wear." by 4, i realized i had not had a real lunch and brought a chicken, bacon, avocado and lettece sandwich across the street while the kids rode bikes. breana began photo-documenting what i know she believes to be a "birthday"--what a dork! (heeeeheeehhee, i love you, dork!)

its 6 now and i am back home, waiting for blake to get home. i really want our family put back together! tomorrow is the start of our weekend and i am curious to see if things pick up when he gets home. oh, here comes another one....forgot to time it since the last...maybe another 7 minutes....open mouth, deep breath...wowser......okay it passed.