What's up with us

We're moving along through this very cold winter, hanging out, going to work and meetings, cooking, and generally enjoying ourselves.

• Maia starts gymnastics class at the Michigan Academy of Gymnastics this afternoon. Her class goes for about 20 weeks, and she's been talking about it nearly incessantly for a couple of weeks now. The day is finally here ... but, of course, as I look outside, it's snowing like crazy right now and the class is all the way on the west side of town. The drive over there will be interesting. Wish us luck! :)
• Eli had his first taste of solid food last night. We saw some good looking avocados at the store last weekend, and so we bought one and thought we'd give him the chance to have a taste. He also tasted banana that I mashed a bit with a fork. I think that both of us are really backing-off from the idea that this a milestone that he must undertake at the six month point; we'd both like there to be less of a process and more flexibility and fun about it than that. I'm sure we'll probably make mixes of baby food and freeze them and all of that--but not yet. The vast majority of his calories are still coming from my milk, and will for many months to come.
• Eli and I worked together over the last several days to get my milk supply back up to where it needs to be. He nursed a lot and I brewed a lot of my "Nursing Support" tea and focused on drinking more water throughout the day. I still don't have a lot of surplus--when he drinks a bottle, he can put away 10-11 oz. at a time--but I'm definitely on more solid ground with regards to meeting his needs. Phew!
• All of our local public schools are having their kindergarten round-ups in the next couple of weeks, which has started me thinking about being there ourselves a year from now. Ann Arbor has open enrollment for kids who live in the district's boundaries (as we do), and so I think it's likely that we'll be doing some deep pondering of where she'll begin kindergarten in the fall of 2012. Brian and I are going to be thinking long and hard about what school will best fit her academic, social, and emotional needs. I bet I'll start going on tours of various schools after their kindergarten round-up processes are over, probably within the next two or three months.
• Work continues to go beautifully for both of us. Brian has conferences and talks to attend through the springtime, and I'm already booked with doula clients through April (I'm starting to interview for summer clients, too). Brian's slated to write another magazine article soon, and I'm considering going through the process of adding Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) to my credentials so that I can begin teaching breastfeeding classes. Work life is busy and multi-faceted and always changing ... and good!

And, just because it's awesome, here's a picture of Eli enjoying his avocado wearing nothing but his diaper. It was just easier that way. :)

From Eli's first solids