How I Long for Pizza and Cafe Amb Llet: The Post-Partum Somewhat Baby-Friendly Diet

We're two and half months in to this newborn's life and that still means no lactose products: milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, butter, whipped cream, etc. This translates to: pizza, rice with yogurt, tuna melts, cupcakes, creme brulee (crema catalana) and other such like desserts.  Even soy-based alternatives bother this little one's digestion.

His digestive system is too immature that it cannot yet handle more complex and irritating foods and food proteins such as lactose and legumes (soybeans included). The consequences of mama's morning cafe amb llet for my little guy implies lots of gas, constipation, green stools (yuck! – they should be yellow), crying, inability to sleep due to extreme discomfort, etc., etc.

I am also, less actively, avoiding stimulants such as coffee, tea, sodas and chocolate because these can irritate the baby's tummy too. Tea and sodas are easiest since in general I do not drink them, but coffee and chocolate, not so much. I have turned to the dreaded decaf and am trying not to eat chocolate every day, except for this week when I have had many more cravings than usual – I wonder what I am missing in my diet. Thankfully, I have a couple of new sweet friends (alternatives) such as turrons and digestive cookies – I'll tell you about them some day soon.

Very soon we will be visiting my home in Western Washington and all I can think about are Trophy cupcakes, mochi ice cream balls, Mexican food, mochas, greek yogurt, goat cheese, Molly Moon's, waffles and egg's benedict. I am saying prayers so that he'll be able to stomach lactose soon.

Mama's Top 5 Accomplishments during Baby's Second Month

My top five accomplishments during Roc's second month of life. Having a newborn is not easy and here is the proof in five small, big achievements:

1. We went to Tarragona, the provincial capital, to turn in the required papers for my Spanish residency card. This only took about 6 hours of our day. In a few days time, we will be able to go pick it up.
2. We completed the paperwork for and went to Barcelona to register Roc's birth and apply for a US passport and social security number. A few weeks later, we went back to pick everything up! Both times, we took advantage of being in the big city to do some much-needed shopping.
3. I slowly started exercising again, though not consistently since it hasn't been possible. I have been doing makeshift aerobics in our little bedroom to get my heart rate up and to sweat some. I've mixed this with yoga poses to stretch and strengthen my tense muscles. I wish I could do this every day!
4. I have spent some hours learning how to drive a manual transmission. It gave me great anxiety at first, especially since I was trying to start in third gear (not recommended). With each drive, I am becoming more confident. The next step will be to get my Spanish driver's license, which may require driving lessons (depends on if required by the state) and taking both a written and practical exam. Fun!
5. I learned how to iron well, which I must admit, is quite exciting. Since everything down to underwear and towels are ironed here, I figured it was time to learn. It is quite a time consuming activity; it is easy to spend hours ironing with achieving very little. The hardest part is seeing something freshly ironed fall victim to baby spit-up. C'est la vie! 

Of the above-mentioned activities, four of five (exercise-excluded) would not have been possible without the assistance of Gloria, my amazing mother-in-law, who has been sacrificing many hours and days to help these things get accomplished.

Baby's Second Month

Our darling baby boy has completed his second month of life!

I'm two months old!

Here's a little bit of how he has grown this past month:

• He has become a more efficient eater, with almost all feedings taking less than 15 minutes.
• He has gained quite a bit of weight (just over 1 kg or 2.4 lbs) and is now almost entirely in 3-6 month clothes. 
• He discovered his hand and how good it tastes. He hasn't quite figured out how to hold it to his mouth or how to get it there every time, but he is on his way to becoming a thumb-sucker!
  
• With his hand, he now grabs on to things – long hair, clothing, jewelry, etc. – and therefore we have to be careful with what is available for him to hold grab.
• He can hold his head up for periods of time and turn it. He has a preferred side though, looking to his left, and we have a hard time getting him to look to the right.
• We started putting him in a bouncy chair which he really loves and will often complain when we take him out. 
  
• He learned how to cry/scream. We bought him his first pacifier (so sad I know!) which help calms him and we have found he likes it a little too much.
• In the last two weeks, he became much more alert, started smiling and making the googly-gaga sounds that babies make. He often does this in response to us, but mostly for his Grandma Gloria. It is not a given  – it is still touch-n-go – and of course, he won't let us capture it on camera!
  
• His eyelashes went from blond and short to brown and long!
• Unless he is very tired, holding him close to the body is a no-no. He wants to be free!
• He's not quite sleeping through the night as he's still eating every three hours. With shorter feedings though, it is not that bad. 
• I posted this before and it continues to be true: he LOVES bath time.