My Awesome Friend Paty

Never mind that I've never met my awesome friend Paty, she's still awesome. Look what she made for me! She's convinced me to get into digital scrapbooking. Can you guess why?


She's convinced me to get into digital scrapbooking. Look what she made for me!

THANK YOU PATY!

Self Feeding

So I remember reading stuff about teaching a baby to self feed, but I wasn't sure when that was supposed to start exactly. Today I was feeding Jane bananas and yogurt (we eat a lot of bananas) for lunch and she kept reaching for the spoon. I thought that since Jane likes to hold her own cup and her bottle, maybe we ought to give her more control of solids.


So tonight we put a nearly naked Jane (she loves being nearly naked) in her high chair and I cut up a really ripe banana and put it on her tray. The result? Finger foods strike out! Jane seemed to think she was supposed to mush them up and wipe them on her belly or drop them on her lap. So I mixed up some carrots and rice cereal and, well, see for yourself:

Notice how brilliant she is at putting the spoon in her mouth (you know, except for that one nose incident). I only lightly held on to it for balance. She seemed to really enjoy it and was even purring a few times. And she was totally in to dinner the whole time. Usually she gets distracted while we are trying to feed her. Granted, she thought the bowl was a cup, but pretty darn good for a first try.

I also love hearing Eric laugh in the background. He's so in love with her!

Daddy's Girl

It's been fun to watch Eric grow into a Daddy and to watch Jane grow into a Daddy's girl.



Poor Eric didn't have much time with us last semester. So it was so fun to watch Jane and Daddy get to know each other during the break. And since then, he can hardly get enough of her. So even though he's back to being crazy busy now, he knows how to make her laugh, knows what her cries mean, loves teaching her things like how to open her mouth real wide to eat, to put her legs down when he's changing her diaper, how to shake her head yes and no, how to clap, etc., so he's able to really utilize the small moments they do have together. I love watching all these mini lessons (so does Jane).

So in honor of the daddy and his girl, take a peak at these pictures. I was flipping through Eric's baby book the other day and found this picture:
Spooky, isn't it? The above is Eric at 5+ months. Today I dressed Jane in a red onesie and grey overalls (size 9M) and we tried to get a picture of her sucking her lip (like daddy, like Janey). But she wouldn't cooperate. She wanted to smile instead.


And then frown. She sucks her lip all the time, so I have no idea why she refused to today.


The bigger she grows, the more she is the spittin' image of Eric. So, Nate, Jim, you were right. We should have named her Erica...my sister's family calls her that anyway...

Oh, and interestingly, according to said baby book, Eric weighed 18 lbs at 12 months. Jane is almost 19 now. I'll have to ask my mom to look at my baby book, but I wasn't a chunky baby, so we don't know where she gets that from.

Day 15 of my Confinement

No, Melanie, I'm not pregnant. But I am confined. Thank goodness for the internet.

To amuse and distract me, my sister agreed to attempt another photo shoot of Jane with me rooting from the couch. I posted them (and the raw, unedited versions of the last photo shoot) to Flickr, if you care to take a look. I've given the world full access, including the ability to download the original size. If you look, feel free to leave gratuitous comments, either on the adorability of the subject (sweet, sweet, Jane) or a comment about the photography itself. I'd very much welcome suggestions about how to edit the pictures or about the composition or what not. It's in the interest of posterity. And here's a sneak peak!


In other news, Eric is on Day 22 of his Follicular Negligence Trial (get it, because he's in law school...) i.e., my hubby now has a beard-of-sorts. With my blessing and encouragement, he hasn't shaved since he got sick (and still is, poor guy). He's also sporting short hair (we're going for super low maintenance these days). We went with the 1/2 inch guard and buzzed his hair a la my big brother. Although, I think my man looks pretty handsome with this new 'do. Check out his mug:

First Tooth, knock on wood

I'm fairly sure now that Jane's first tooth is out for good. The question is, what day do I put down in her baby book? We've been playing Whack-A-Mole with that tooth for five weeks now, up down up down, let mommy feel it, let daddy see it (he seriously got out a flash light and everything), up down up down.


More cell phone pics. Jane now sits in the cart at the grocery store. She usually likes it. My girl is so big!

Uh, just kidding

Apparently, cell phone videos don't upload with sound...at least I can't make mine work. I always did have a special place in my heart for silents, though.

I Heart Bluetooth

So some of Jane's best pics come in small sizes, 90 kb at the most. I heart bluetooth and I heart cell phones with their itty bitty cameras. I always have my cell phone. So, I'll be sharing some of the best and mostest favorites over the next few days. It'll be nice to do since I'm without my actual baby most of the time, I can at least blog about her. And I'm really good at reflecting anyhow. I gets it from me pa.

So first of is, gosh, so many gems to choose from. I think I'll share her most recent video. This video is called "Counting is Funny." We were laying on my bed the other day (since that's all we do is lay on things these days) and she thought counting was hilarious. By the time I whipped the phone out, she had started to calm down and you only get half a giggle here. But it's still way cute.

Six Month Stats

On a note that is higher than the previous one that was so low it was near wallowing, Jane had her six month well visit on Tuesday. Jane waiting for the doctor in Jena's stroller.

I didn't go, of course, but my sweet sister went in my place. She even took pictures with her cell phone (and I just figured out how to use bluetooth to transfer all pics and vids to my computer, so stay tuned for some reflective posts and pics) I don't know why this particular visit was so important, but I'd really been looking forward to it. I guess it reassures me to know that my daughter is doing well despite everything.

So here be the stats:
Height: 27 inches (that's one inch per month since she was born, and yet she seems SO much longer than that!) or 90th percentile
Weight: 18 lbs 11.5 oz (that's 1 lb 12 oz per month, and yet she seems SO much heavier than that!) or 92nd percentile.
And a head in the 95th percentile to boot.

Joey wanting his stroller back.

So yeah, she be thriving. She's already fitting into 9M clothing...and I swear that tooth is on the cusp of cutting through...I don't know if I'm ready for this! I just got the little baby thing down and it's already time to move on to the big, mobile, will-of-my-own baby thing...

The Straw

So recovering from childbirth has been an astounding process for me. I won't bore you or gross you out with the details (and I don't really want to publish my medical history for the whole world wide web to read), but it's been a long, slow, frustrating process. In the last month it had begun to seem like I was starting to get better and start actually doing things again, like getting settled into our house or even just doing the regular housework regularly.

Then my bunyon started acting up again, beginning of last week I got a nursing-related infection, Eric got sick (he's had a fever for 12 days) and then the Straw happened, you know, the one that breaks the mommy's back (I figure the substitution works, mommies are beasts of burden, aren't they?).

I was doing laundry on Tuesday. And since our washer/dryer is on the fritz and Eric is too busy AND too sick to do anything about it, doing laundry meant hauling everything down to the building's machines. Which isn't THAT far. And I wrenched my back a bit, not horribly, or so I thought. It kept getting worse until Thursday morning when I tried to pick up Jane out of her crib and I just about dropped her the pain was so bad. The doc says I may have a herniated disk and I started physical therapy that very day. I can now stand straight for short periods of time and can walk around without looking like I need a cane, but still no lifting. Last night I thought I could get away with pouring my own glass of milk, you know since the half gallon was only half full. Nope. Too heavy.

Strangely, that's not the Straw. The Straw occurred when, in the light of recent events, I had to come to terms with the necessity of weaning Jane sooner rather than later. It broke my heart. It's adding insult to injury, a real spit in the eye, that not only am I unable to pick my daughter up out of her crib, unable to dress her and tickle her and change her bum, unable to sit and watch her kick in the bathtub, unable to even hold her and cuddle with her; but that I have to give up nursing, too.

Well, not yet. It's too traumatic for the both of us currently. She spends the day with some good-hearted friend(s) from our church and I'm stuck on my back aching for my baby. Yes, I'm complaining. Because it sucks. And no one said I had to be happy about sucky things.

Hair Cut

I've cut my hair for many reasons. The most memorable and appropriately sophomorish was when I let my roommates cut (ten inches off the twelve) and dye (reddish purply) one crazed night of chick flicks, pizza, and root beer. I believe the reason was heartbreak, I vaguely remember a jilting boy...Anywho, I got the cut fixed the next day and fell in love with short hair. Which is not to say I don't love long hair. I'm a wigamist.

However, this time I cut my hair for exercise. See, I haven't been able to do much of anything since Jane was born, I'm still having some related pain. But I can swim. And last week I got a membership to the YMCA which has babysitting and a pool. The problem is, long hair takes too long to dry and Minnesota is too cold to go around with wet hair. So I cut it off. Tell me what you think.

Before:


After:

I think I made the right choice, don't you?

Speaking of Poop

If the title didn't reel you in, then you obviously aren't a parent yet. And out of respect to those readers who aren't, all I will say on the matter is that irregularity comes from eating solids, plain and simple. Forget fiber and metamucil and just visit your local Milk Bank. After 36 hours without a BM, poor Jane experienced a kind of labor and delivery on the changing table with Eric and I as her doula and midwife. It was humorously bizarre.

And I just discovered the most hilarious blog (and I've only skimmed the first 5 or ten posts), "A Dad's Eye View of Baby and Toddler Stuff"

From the Mouths (or fingers) of Babes

=0lopoop' xcd
p[[[[[[[/]
iool/
'

sxdccccccccccccccccftggb


ptb?=.?

At Home Photo Shoot

Inspired by the cool wife of a high school friend, I decided to try and do a photo shoot yesterday at home on the couch, since we don't have church until 1:00 pm (and we were still late). They didn't turn out near as cool as my friend's, but we got a couple of cute ones.


I bought this dress on a super sale thinking it would fit her sometime in April (it is a 9M...) Luckily, Eric pointed to it on the hanger and said, "I bet that one would fit." I have to admit, my heart kind of drooped as I realized he was right. Although, at least she didn't outgrow it never having worn it. She is growing way too fast! It's time to go through her drawers again and pull out everything that doesn't fit.


I messed with the color settings (temperature, exposure, saturation, contrast, etc) a bit with these three. Someone with a better eye than me tell me if they look OK and what I need to do (Jamie, Holli, Melisa, etc)