Halloween 2009

The Force is strong in this one.


Halloween turned out to be pretty uneventful, which turned out to be OK with us. Our trick-or-treating plans fell through so we went over to Dad&Florence's for pizza and then came home and went to bed. It seems that two of us are too old and one of us is too young to really get into Halloween right now. We'll try again next year.

Ava had her 9 month check up a couple of weeks ago. She's 21 pounds, 27 inches, and is growing just like she should. She's all over the place, so when she's awake, we are generally involved in some sort of surveillance and pursuit. She did get a flu shot, but the H1N1 shot is elusive. I don't know that we'll have the opportunity to get that for her, and I'm not too thrilled about that. I'm a big believer in vaccines, and while I'd be unhappy if I got H1N1 myself, I'd be devastated if she came down with it. We're being super careful about handwashing and basic hygiene--that's generally a good way to avoid getting sick. Daycare sanitizes everything every day in her classroom, and they keep the little kids away from the bigger kids, so we're hoping that helps her stay safe. Ugh. I'll be glad when this flu season is behind us.

She eats what we eat, and I love that. This morning, we all sat down to breakfast and we all had pancakes and sausage. She can feed herself--I think she prefers to, actually. So whatever we're eating, we break it up into little bits and put it on her tray. She takes it from there

The holiday season is officially upon us, I suppose. This year, she's mostly indifferent to anything that doesn't directly happen to her, so anything we do, we do for our benefit and for the purposes of pictures. So we weren't too upset when we ended up being home early last night. We'll be in San Diego for Thanksgiving and home for Christmas. And I think we're going to keep it all as low-key as we can for as long as we can. Next year, all bets are off.

Rhymes with Orange

You know what rhymes with orange? No sleep. That's what rhymes with orange. As demonstrated in the following original biographical poem:

When Ava eats foods that are orange
There is no sleep.

She likes the orange foods. Yams? Good. Pumpkin? Gooooooood. But the night after eating orange food? NO SLEEP. Or, rather, lots of sleep, but in 17-minute increments and quite frankly we don't think that counts. AT ALL. This is why they tell you to introduce new foods to Baby one at a time and one new food every four days. So you know if something is causing a problem. So last week after yams, there was No Sleep. And the next day after we reviewed Ava's ups and downs (seriously, we do this: "How was her day? What did she eat? How much did she sleep?" we decided No More Yams for a while, because she was awake and gassy (don't ask). So yesterday I gave her some pumpkin and she loved it. Last night? NO SLEEP.

Orange foods contain vitamin A and beta carotene, and if babies eat a lot of these foods, there is evidently a chance that they will turn orange. Fortunately for us, there's no risk of that because we won't be eating any more orange food for a while. She likes the broccoli (I'm quite smug about this...) and the acorn squash (yeah) and we're still a big fan of bananas. Today, we may try some peaches. I also have some plums pureed and ready to eat, but they're a pretty significant shade of purple, and we need some time to recover from the havoc that orange hath wreaked on us before we move on to any other bold colors.

A Double Feature

Long overdue, I know.

We went to Utah for July 4th, and we had a mostly good time. There were some baby tummy issues (you do NOT want to know...) but she handled the altitude all right (10,000 feet above sea level) and we learned a few good lessons about traveling with a baby. The cabin is about 5 miles from a ski resort (Brian Head, to be specific) and we stayed at a condo there and visited Dad & Florence each day. It worked out, as the cabin had no running water, and running water is a key component of an Optimal Baby Environment.



I like hummingbirds, hence the inclusion of the hummingbird clip. It was a great weekend and we're hoping to get back up there soon. The last part (it went kind of Blair Witchy, didn't it, and I'm not so thrilled about that...) happened on the evening of the 4th. There was this huge fireworks show that happened right in front of our condo. It was crazy and we were freaking out because HI WE HAVE A SLEEPING BABY YOU MORONS but she slept right through it. Rock on, kid.

Our evening entertainment lately is all about The Ava Show. She's a funny kid and does cute little funny things.



That bouncy thing is about the best hundred bucks we'll ever spend. She. Loves. It. She still kicks her legs all the time, and she's all about being jostled and bumped around so it really is fun to watch her catch a bouncy wave and go to town.

We've started feeding her Real People Food, not just formula. My friend Tammy told me about a great website that is all about making your own baby food. It sounds kind of earthy-chunky-granola, but you can buy an entire acorn squash for the price of two jars of it prepared by a corporation with who knows what additives. And it's easy. Cut stuff into chunks, steam it, puree it, spoon it into an ice cube tray and freeze it. So far, we have done broccoli, the aforementioned acorn squash, and a yam. Broccoli seems to be kind of hit or miss (as it is for many of us), acorn squash seems to be pretty well received, but the yam? Oh she loves the yam. NOM NOM NOM YAM. She'll also chow down a third of a banana pretty easily for breakfast. My kid loves food. No shock there, huh? I really do love doing family dinners--we feed Ava while we eat and it's just cool :).

Ava had her six month check-up (and vaccinations because we don't want the Polio...). Little missy is 24 inches long and 17 pounds 9 ounces. She's grown almost 5 inches and she's gained 10 pounds, mostly in her cheeks and thighs. Very Wise Doctor seems pleased with her progress--she's still a little on the short side for her weight (runs in the family) but well within the normal range. We talked about her milestones: laughing, babbling, reaching, grabbing, sitting up unassisted. She's not so much into rolling over yet, and that's evidently an important precursor to the whole Crawling Thing, but I think we're close. We're about to start childproofing the house, mostly because we want to be ahead of the curve and if she does suddenly take off, we don't want to be running around the house with a drill like a couple of crazy handymen. Yeah. It's about to get fun.

Insert Clever Title Here

Seriously, I can't think of anything interesting to call this post. Here are some pictures.


Hey look her eyes are open! She's in her bouncy chair, where she loves to be when she's awake and happy (don't try to put her there when she's not already happy...). And yes, I know the year is wrong on the camera. I'll fix it. Someday.

We're plugging along. Did some Official Business today, and now Miss Ava has insurance coverage and has some daycare set up for March. Errands are a bit easier now that I have a better idea of how to deploy. It's best to leave after her last bottle of the morning when she's about to start her afternoon naps. Everything else goes in the car before she does. She falls asleep by the time we're out of the driveway, and generally stays asleep until she is taken out of the car. Awesome. She sleeps through music, conversation, and even the mild road rage that I can't quite get over (it's better than it was--no gestures, less profanity).

She's been a little congested this week--evidently this is pretty normal for infants. We're on a Saline Drops and Blue Sucky Thing regimen, with a side of Cool Mist Humidifier for good measure. Yesterday was rough; she was pretty snorty and unhappy about it (no bouncy chair for most of the day...). Today is much better. I fear that she may have inherited my faulty sinuses, and that will certainly be no picnic for any of us. Ugh.

I've gotten a lot of email about the whole Breastfeeding Thing. One of my friends sent me a link to a great blog that really hit home. There's so much emphasis on how breastfeeding is the ideal and formula is a distant second choice at best. I think the lactation hippie meant well and really did give me a lot of help, and I'm going back to her for a follow-up on Friday. She emphasized (read: pushed) nursing over pumping, and now that I know what to expect I think I'll be able to better steer the discussion toward "Feeding The Baby" rather than "Nursing = Superior Bonding". She means well, but there just aren't enough hours in my day to implement all of her methods. Hell, I can't even find a minute to change the date on my goddamn camera and she suggests a three-step process for Every. Single. Feeding? RIGHT? Whatever. I will pick up another bottle of voodoo supplements--I can't dispute the fact that they have helped out with the milk supply.

And so that, hopefully, is the end of the What Do We Feed Her saga.

The Long Hot Summer Begins

It's supposed to be 106 today. That's the official airport temperature, which means that it will be well over 110 in most other neighborhoods. Let me just say that I am so thankful that I'm not 8-1/2 months along and puffy and miserable because of the heat. When I'm 8-1/2 months along, I want to be puffy and miserable because of too much holiday food. I'm looking forward to holiday food, because none of it is on my "Do Not Eat" list like most of my summer favorites are. I was just having a conversation about this yesterday. Things like sushi, deli meats, tuna salad and other nice cool foods are all off limits. Don't even get me started on beverages... I've been known to get home from work when it's 115 outside, stop at the fridge, grab a beer, and head straight for a nice cold shower. Cold showers lose their appeal when there's no beer involved, let me tell you.

In other news, my peri appointment was rescheduled for 6/25. They wrote it down wrong (for today, which, had we known about it a week ago, would have been perfect) . They had to scramble a bit but they made it work. So we're twice rescheduled with them and we're fairly confident that there will be no more screwing with our appointments. Here's hoping. If you're curious, the website for the facility is www.cmfm.net. I'll be seeing Dr. Wold, and I have it on good authority that he'll take good care of us.

Where is this kid going to live?!

We'll call this picture "Before".



Well, at least it's on the radar. A space actually does exist where we could put an additional person, and we do acknowledge the need to transition the space from what it is now to what it needs to be. It currently does contain a bed and such accoutrement, and is guest-ready with maybe 30 minutes of advance notice and prep. It currently houses a rather sizeable (and almost entirely catalogued) comic book collection, as well as a bunch of other stuff that really has no other place to live in the house but must be kept for any number of reasons. You understand.

A storage unit is most certainly in our future.

In other news, I've spent much of the past 4 weeks being tired. Most often, it feels like a hangover (don't judge me...) that comes and goes depending on how recently I've eaten or slept. I eat constantly. I've killed a Costco bag of trail mix (YUM) in 2 weeks. Cheese is a miracle food that makes me feel better almost immediately. I'm fortunate that there's really been no nausea and I'm hoping that continues.