Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Cubby Speaks

You may have gotten the idea by now that Blackrock is a cold house. It's cold even for those accustomed to the cold, as we are. We wear heavy wool sweaters and long johns all winter long indoors. Knowing this, I had some serious concerns about having a newborn baby in the house in February.

However. There was little I could do about the timing. So we crossed our fingers that winter would end quickly this year and stocked up on fleece sleep sacks for the baby.

We were fairly lucky with the weather, which is a good thing, since infant clothing? TOTALLY USELESS in the cold. Seriously, infant clothing manufacturers. Would it kill you to make some tiny wool pants or something? Cotton is not enough to keep a child warm at Blackrock, no matter how many layers we put on said child (three on a regular basis).

All this to say that keeping Cubby warm has been an ongoing battle for the past two months, and we have not always been successful. Cubby isn't going to perish from cold or anything, but when he's cold, he's unhappy. And he lets us know it.

Yesterday dawned sunny and bright, so I took Cubby outside in his stroller with me when I hung the laundry up around 9 a.m. I realized pretty quickly that while the sun was out, it had not been out long enough to warm the air significantly. Cubby realized it too, and became very vocal in his displeasure.

I'm getting pretty adept at translating Cubby's wide repertoire of shrieking. This particular diatribe could be translated as, "What the hell is wrong with you, woman? It's 45 degrees out here! I'm an infant! I can't regulate my own body temperature! Get me inside and park me by that woodstove RIGHT NOW."

So I did.

And peace reigned once more.

P.S. Alyssa, we owe you BIG TIME for lending us this stroller. Cubby LOVES his chariot. Apparently, the boy has a need for speed.

8 comments:

Alyssa said...

I'm so glad! And I've made Leif some cute pants out of old felted wool sweater sleeves. I'd be happy to whip some up for Cubby - I'd just need some of his pants to use as a pattern. We are heading home for the afternoon today and day tomorrow. I'll give you a call.

Anonymous said...

Now, THAT'S where I'D sleep. Beth

With friends like that , who needs to learn to sew. So, nice of you Alyssa :) I've been thinking about the cover for nursing cubby in public...do you have a large scarf or a small card table sized tablecloth that is pretty....you could use those...or even a yard square size piece of material that is appropriate. Suspender clips to hold it on. No sew...woohoo.

word verification ' glatimen'

scottish guys who are happy to sleep by the woodstove.

Anonymous said...

I react in a similar way when exposed to the cold. I wish someone would respond by placing me in front of a cozy woodstove, but alas, not yet.

I also remember the crazy baby-layering from our cold-ass spring (and therefore, cold-ass house) last year. I submit there need to be onesies made out of electric blankets. Sounds safe enough, right?

Alicia said...

simple solution: move to Texas. It's 75 degrees today.

Daisy said...

Isn't it amazing how moms learn to translate babies' cries so early?

Jessica said...

Wouldn't putting a warm hat on Cubby's head help him (at least a little bit) be comfortable in the cold weather? It doesn't look like he's wearing a hat in the picture you posted...

Kristin @ Going Country said...

Yes, hats help. Babies lose almost 25 percent of their body heat through their heads. He wears one almost all the time. He's not wearing one in this photo because he was ten inches from the fire and had been sitting there for half an hour.

tammra said...

Hi Kristin,
My kids go to an alternative school that taught us early on how important it was to keep our little ones warm, it was part of the parent ed before school started ...and we live in Southern Calif! There are some great companies out there who make layering easy. http://www.novanatural.com/woolens
here is one that I know a few people use. Silk underwear is also a great one because its soooo soft on babies skin.
There are nursing covers here http://www.milknursingwear.com/store/pc/privacy-covers-c23.htm if you wanted to purchase or copy and sew.

And get a baby sling. It saved my sanity. Both hands FREE, bonus, grandmas and dads can wear them too. So both hands and body FREE. Woo Hoo freedom.