Life Lately

Wow. Lots has happened. Nothing much has happened. Anyway, a quick synopsis:

1. China doesn't have reliable formula and I'm not paying double for imports. So, we breastfeed because it was always my intention to do so and because, practically, I don't have another option. And I have had way more than my fair share of clogged ducts and persistent low grade mastitis. Like, it took me three and a half hours and over 50 warm compresses to manhandle and bruise the bejesus out of myself to unclog over 15 ducts the first time. And I've had 7 more bouts (Every 10 days. Reliably.) since then. It's connected to a nasty case of thrush for both me and Violet. Email if anyone wants to talk boobs. I'm sure this will be the legacy of my time nursing. It's been pretty time consuming and a really big energy suck. Like, aside from smiles and playing, pretty all-consuming, neglect the house, eat meals we ordered in because I don't have time to cook time and energy suck.

2. My mom spent a total of 83 days with us. I could not be more grateful for her help managing the house and the dog. More than that, what a gift it was to spend so much amazing time together. The companionship and encouragement working through clogs and baby blues and shouting across the apartment to enjoy Violet's first legitimate smiles together was so special. My dad joined us for a week before they headed back to the States and seeing my parents loving on my daughter was pretty amazing.

3. In a whirlwind of good timing and lucky breaks, we found a new apartment on our first day of searching. We wanted to move out of the Higher Education District (Students! Everywhere!) which is really far from everything we wanted to be near, like friends and any sort of decent restaurants and groceries. The place we found is enormous, right in the location we were targeting, and has a tremendous view of Jinji Lake. The dog loves pacing through all the rooms, the cat is still finding creative hiding spots because there's actually square footage to explore, and we're enjoying the first dishwasher that we've ever had (unheard of over here!). 

4. My kid finally fits into her cloth diapers and, as of four short weeks ago, is out of newborn clothes and into the 0-3 month stuff (she's 3.5 months now). I'm really glad we're using cloth- she's a master at peeing into the fresh diaper before it's even on. And disposables means a lot of waste and cloth means simply adding a wasted diaper to the wash. Getting out of newborn sizes means her adorable rompers fit properly. As do many of the frickin' adorable clothes I purchased second hand from a friend who is having a little boy for #2. 

5. I'm making friends!! Of my very own! It almost always happens that I meet people through Rob and find my place in the group dynamic that way. It's weird and wonderful to make friends without a connection to whatever Rob is doing. 

6. Violet hates being on her belly, so her arms aren't pushing up at tummy time, but good gravy, her little legs and neck are very strong! Play time is so much fun since she loves to give soggy open mouth kisses every time you lean her in for a little smooch. We prop her tiny feet in our laps and let her straighten out and then lean her in again and again for sloppy kisses. She grins like a goon. And it's my favorite.

I miss blogging enormously, but it's just not practical lately. Slow and unreliable laptop (which WILL be replaced before 2014 ends, dangit), full hands, squirmy kid, and managing my shitty milk flow are all factors, but mostly, its just that I can't do diddly on this slow internet. And Instagram doesn't require my VPN, so keep up with us over there (@katebmcclure)! Oh, yeah, and I'm in non-clothes/ no-clothes 80% of my time. So, no blog material to speak of. Shall we try for once a week? Ha! Such lofty goals.