Life With Karma

Inner Conflicts

2012-01-29T10:32:00.000-05:00

There are some inner conflicts that come with being a mother.

For example, I already miss traveling, both for work and for fun. I never did it all that often, but in the last ten years it was pretty typical for me to travel to at least one international location per year- and cool places, too, like Norway, Australia, and Italy; or if not work, then for fun, usually with my sister (you can read about our adventures in Peru, but we also traveled all over Europe) or with Kevin. Traveling is one of my favorite things to do- I especially love planning trips and then seeing all my hard work pay off. I'd much rather save up my money to spend on travel than pretty much anything else. Of course it helped for work travel to have an advisor with some grant money and to have conferences at neat locations- it's a lot harder to get funding to travel abroad now that I'm not a student and not in academia.

But, for several reasons, it's harder to travel now that Nora is here. There have been (and will probably be, coming up in the next year) a couple opportunities at work to go abroad, but the issue is that (a) I have no local family to watch her while I'm gone and (b) Kevin's schedule is too unknown and too packed full to be able to plan for such a trip in advance (on certain rotations, he might leave before she wakes up and come home after she's asleep on a bad day). And (c), I'm not sure I want to be away from her for more than a day or two at this point anyway! I could take her with me, but traveling on a long flight with an infant by myself and then having to deal with her jet lag and finding childcare at the destination just does not sound worthwhile to me.

Another source of inner conflict comes from how to entertain and spend time with Nora at this age. When I go to work, I miss Nora, and I'm sad to leave her at daycare; and when it's the weekend, I'm happy that I'll get to spend two whole days with her. But.... on the other hand, when I actually have a whole day to spend with her, I often find myself wondering: "what in the heck are you supposed to do with a baby all day long?"

Usually I can find stuff to entertain her in our small house up until about 3pm (and it's a lot easier on nice days when we can go for a stroller ride)- but at that point, we've gone to all the parts of the house, played with all her toys multiple times, and sometimes, I have no clue what to do next. It's made a little more difficult by the fact that she doesn't take very long naps so she's awake almost the entire day. It does reinforce the feeling that at this point in my life I wouldn't be cut out to be a stay-at-home parent. I often feel like she probably gets more stimulation and activity at daycare than with me (I mean, look at all the creativity she's using there!). I'm hoping once she is a toddler I'll feel like I can take her out to more places like children's museums and playgrounds and there will be more for her to do.

Anyway, this post isn't too say that I'm sad or upset about these sources of inner conflict, but merely to state that they are there, in case other new parents are going through the same thing. In the end, it's all worth it for this little face:

She's a Mover

2012-01-25T22:19:00.002-05:00

Nora has been working on getting around this month- she is quite the army crawler. Here is a video showing her skills, plus her new maneuver as of this last weekend: getting from her tummy up into a sitting position. She is so proud of herself, she has been doing this non-stop since she figured it out- tummy, sitting, tummy, sitting- even in the middle of the night- I'll wake up and see her sitting up in her crib! Then back down to her tummy for more sleeping.

A few comments: yes, I'm aware that she's headed straight for a staircase with nary a baby gate in sight. We need to buy one soon, but as you can see, army crawling is quite slow. However, she's started spending more time on her knees, so regular crawling might not be too far away.

Also, she is missing a sock. Whoops. And she is crawling for both the actual cat and the cats' water bowl, which is her absolute favorite thing to go after, so there is conveniently no longer water in there because it was just getting too messy (sorry cats- they have another bowl downstairs). You can also tell that she doesn't listen to her name if distracted by something, i.e., the cat.

I still think she is the cutest baby ever.

Friday Fragments

2012-01-20T06:52:00.001-05:00

1. Poor Nora got sick again this week. This time I'm not sure what it is- the only symptom is a somewhat high, persistent fever (the highest was 102.7F). I took her to the pediatrician yesterday and her ears look fine. No cough or congestion. The pediatrician (not our normal one) said her throat looked a little red and it was probably just a virus that we had to wait out. Easy enough to say, but I really don't have much sick leave, so "waiting it out" isn't a great option for me! Sigh. Hopefully only the next few months will be bad for colds/viruses and then she'll be perfectly healthy all summer- fingers crossed, right?

2. Kevin has started his surgery rotation. It kind of sucks so far and we're only on week 2 (out of 8)! Surgeons are crazy and I have to say I'm happy that he has stated he is never choosing a surgery specialty. For example, Tuesday he was at the hospital for 17 hours (from like 5am to 10pm). Today he woke up at 3am to get to his morning rounds on time (I mean, really, what patient wants visitors at that ungodly hour?). He also only gets one day off this week, which is actually probably good compared to whatever the residents are getting (one of which, he tells me, was getting very grumpy after his 36 hour shift- yeah- 36 hours!!! Who wouldn't be grumpy?). Maybe this isn't too shocking out there for others who have already gone through this, but I am not a fan. At this stage in our lives, I think lifestyle is just too important to pick a specialty like this. Though perhaps this gives me insight into what residency is going to be like...

3. One of my baby's favorite toys is a giant plastic camping spoon. With a long handle that could probably poke out her eye. I know, I shouldn't let her play with it, but it entertains her for like 10 minutes, which can't be said of most toys. I do try to carefully supervise...

4. Nora sleeps with her butt in the air. It's so cute, it makes me laugh. Exhibit A:

5. I got a new computer. I haven't had any time really to get it working yet though, which is sad. I started it up, but now I'm having wireless connectivity issues that I can't figure out. Sad! I want it to work ASAP.

6. This video is like a month old but it makes me laugh- Nora is a fan of peekaboo but I guess it works better with a smaller cloth!

Baby Food Makin'

2012-01-14T20:13:00.002-05:00

I actually meant to write this post like a month ago- whoops! I wanted to go over my baby food making technique. I've been mostly following wholesomebabyfood.com. In the end I mostly make Nora's food because it's fun, and it probably has saved some money. The food is also really easy to make for the most part. I thought I would quickly type up how I cook some of Nora's favorite foods by level of difficulty.

Bananas (Easier)

Bananas are the easiest thing. All I do is slice them up, put them on a saran-wrap covered plate or cookie tray (not touching), put another piece of saran wrap on top, and then stick them in the freezer. 24 hours later, I move the frozen pieces to a freezer bag. There is some slight browning but it's really not too bad. To serve, I heat up 2-3 pieces for 30 seconds in the microwave- they are super easy to mash with a fork after that.

Avocado (Easier)

Cut in half, scoop out pit, then scoop out each half. Slice, then either serve freshly mashed or to store: follow the saran-wrap/freezer procedure for the bananas. You can use a little squirt of lemon to keep from browning, but I haven't because citrus can be troublesome for a young baby's tummy. The pieces get very little brown on them if you make sure the saran wrap is touching all the sides of each piece. I serve the same way I described in the banana section- though lately, Nora is enjoying finger foods more and she likes to suck on the frozen slice of avocado.

Green Beans or Peas (Easier)

These are easy because I can get frozen bags of them- just make sure there's no added ingredients (like salt). Then I just cook them according to the directions on the bag, throw them in the food processor, and make sure they really get pureed. I put the puree into my ice cube tray, freeze for 24 hours, then move to a freezer bag. Nora will currently eat 2-3 cubes at a time (mixed with carrots is a favorite).

Pears (easier)

If the pear is ripe and soft, you can just peel the pear, cut into chucks (discard core), and puree in the food processor (no cooking necessary); then freeze in cubes. If the pear isn't quite ripe, you can quickly steam them in about an inch of water in a saucepan on the stove, then follow the same instructions.

Pumpkin (easier)

Buy canned pumpkin (make sure it's plain pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling). Serve fresh from can, or freeze in ice cube trays.

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Apples (Harder)

These involve slightly more time because you first have cut them into chunks (discarding the core) and then cook. Then there are two ways I have cooked them. (1) Remove peel first, then cut into chunks. Put in a saucepan over medium heat with about an inch of water until the water boils, then reduce heat and steam until soft. Put in food processor and blend. Freeze in ice cube trays as noted above.

OR (2) Bake apple chunks (with peel ON) at 400F for about 30 minutes, with about an inch of water in the bottom of the pan. If your baby is older than 7-8 months with no known allergies to dairy or other tummy problems, you can add a little butter and cinnamon to the top. When soft, you can put them into the food processor (I actually left the peels on, but you can discard the peel at this time if you want), then freeze in cubes. Or you can cut the apple up into very small pieces to serve as finger food.

Butternut or Acorn Squash (Harder)

Cut the squash in half (I like acorn the best because I hate trying to cut through butternut squash). Scoop out the seeds and discard. Put the halfs face/flesh down in a baking pan with about an inch of water in the bottom of the pan. Bake at 400F for 40 minutes until squash is very soft. Scoop out of rind into food processor and puree (though not much pureeing will be necessary). Freeze in cubes, save in freezer bag.

Sweet potatoes (Harder)

These actually aren't that much harder than the squash, but the peel is kind of annoying and they take longer to bake. Basically, you just bake them in the oven with peels on (stab with a fork a couple of times before hand, wrap in tinfoil, place in oven) at 400F for 45-60 minutes. Once they are very soft, the peels should easily come off after cooling (I've found that some peels are easier than others). You can also boil or steam the potatoes, but I've never tried it.

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I should mention- I buy pureed carrots, because there are some issues with nitrates from carrots that I don't want to deal with.

Also, while I've had fun making these basic purees, as Nora is now graduating to chunkier (and meatier) foods, I don't have it in me to create fancy combinations of purees (like apple chicken rice or something like that), so I'll probably start buying more Stage 3 baby foods to go with her favorite purees that I still make. Plus we've been using dinner time to give her finger foods- puffs, plain spaghetti, chicken or ground turkey (in very tiny pieces), baked apple chunks, steamed green beans, etc. Still, I found it pretty easy and fun to make these purees for the last 2 months, so I hope I can help someone else out there enjoy it too!

Christmas Photos

2012-01-08T19:08:00.007-05:00

We celebrated Christmas Eve with my family, then split Christmas Day between Kevin's and my families, and then the following evening with Kevin's family. Sharing holidays can be kind of tricky! But we were happy to get the chance to see almost everyone.

The best part was finally getting some time for Nora to spend with all her family members (she met them all at points in the last six months, but I feel like now she's a little more interactive and fun than as a colicky newborn).

* Just a note: These photos are taken by me, my sister, Sara, or my mom. I didn't do any photo editing here, mostly due to lack of time.

Nora and her BFF (as per her pajamas, which state "Me + My Aunt=BFF):

Nora's grandparents were super happy to see her. Here's 3 generations on my side of the family (plus Dante the dog):

Nora and Dante hung out a lot. Nora was fascinated by Dante, but wasn't a fan of doggy mouth kisses! Here are the floor buddies:

The Christmas tree. My parents did a great job decorating it!

Christmas Eve, we drank homemade eggnog that Kevin made, had a delicious dinner, and lit Chinese lanterns. And took pictures in front of the tree!

Me and my siblings:

Me and Kevin:

Our little family's first Christmas together:

On Christmas morning, Nora got to open her very first stocking from Santa and Christmas presents from her aunts and uncles:

She got her very first cell phone from her Uncle Andrew and Aunt Sara (eek!):

(Her onesie has cookies and milk and says "For Santa. Not Daddy" on it). She thought this Christmas thing was pretty fun:

Then late morning and that night we went to celebrate with Kevin's family. Unfortunately I was a terrible picture taker (Nora tends to be clingy at night, making it hard to focus on photo-taking). I apologize, Kevin's family! I know there must be pictures out there from other people who were there- I need to hunt some down.

The rest of the week was packed full of visiting friends and family, including my two college roomies:

... and taking care of sick baby Nora (who had been feeling okay Christmas eve and day, thank goodness, but started feeling worse the day after Christmas), getting family pedicures (ah, so relaxing) and going on some nice snowy walks:

It was seriously so good to see my family. We haven't all been together in a really really long time!

And Nora was so happy to have all the attention. I'm sure she thinks it's really boring back home now. It made me really wish we all lived closer together. (How cute is this picture of my little brother and Nora? Thanks Sara!).

Lighting up the Holidays

2012-01-05T17:55:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite memories from this Christmas will be the Chinese sky lanterns that my sister Erin and her husband Myron brought us from Taiwan.

Christmas eve night, we wrote our wishes and dreams for the new year on the red paper balloons.

We bundled up and headed across the street to the park, our feet crunching on the icy snow.

We laughed nervously, expecting the cops to maybe show up, for lighting things on fire. :)

Myron lit the first lantern with his lighter- holding the flame to a small paper disk on the bottom of the balloon. It took awhile to get going, and slowly, magically, the paper lantern began to fill, and then float.

When the lantern is ready to fly, you can feel it on your fingertips, pulling up to the sky. You see the words you wrote, glowing with fire; you feel the weight of those hopes and dreams lift into the dark abyss.

And then you watch the other lanterns, those of your loved ones, lighting and rising into the night, growing smaller and smaller but still visible miles and miles away.

The cops never did show up. Actually, what happened was that cars driving by the park started stopping- many, many cars, wanting to watch the beauty of the lanterns in their ascent on this most holiest of nights.

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I do have some video of this event (a very brief one below). It was really an awesome thing to do. These are the same lanterns used in the Yi Peng festival in Thailand, something I've always wanted to see. You apparently can buy the balloons online. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this takes off in the United States, as it's a truly magical experience.

Nora: Month Seven

2012-01-02T07:53:00.001-05:00

Dear Nora-

This month was both a ton of fun and completely exhausting. Though everything makes you giggle and laugh these days, and you just love playing and exploring- for at least half of the month, you were sick, and just not yourself.

First it was a little common cold and congestion, which turned into a bad cough and some vomiting, and a low grade fever for ~10 days, which led to two different antibiotics and your first trip to the ER (we would have just gone to our normal pediatrician, but we were in Colorado for the holidays). Even though you were diagnosed with an ear infection and bronchiolitis, you still were giggling away and charming the doctors in the cutest baby hospital gown I've ever seen:

Still, you were very clingy and fussy, and waking up very frequently. One night I think you woke up more than once per hour the entire night! But we knew it was because you didn't feel good, so we rocked you and did everything we could to try to make you more comfortable.

Sickness aside, when you're feeling good you are generally a happy baby, and you made our families completely gaga for you when we visited over the holidays with your big laugh and your goofy tongue-out smiles (sometimes while eating carrots):

(thanks to my sister for this photo)

Sleeping: As I mentioned last month, we were doing some Ferber sleep training and it was going really well. At the beginning of the month, you were only waking about once per night (compared to 5-6 times last month), and sleeping from ~8pm to ~5am, waking for a bottle, then sleeping until 8am.

But... then you got sick. So half the month was spent with some of the worst sleep nights you've ever had (newborn days included). We were sooo tired, and we knew you must be too! Luckily after we got the correct antibiotic and as you are starting to feel better, your better sleep appears to have returned, though we might have to revert to some sleep training because we created a few bad habits while you were sick.

In good news- I think we now have you napping in the crib, so I'm packing up the Rock n'Play. I love you, RnP! The nap story is the same- 2-3 naps of 30 minutes each. I'm not too worried about that- I think you're just not a great napper. You get a lot of sleep at night, so to me it makes sense you wouldn't sleep as much during the day.

Eating: You tried some new foods this month- like pears (don't like unless mixed with something else), peas (like), peaches (dislike), and squash (love). I think your favorite right now may be carrots. We didn't try quite as many things as I would have liked because when you got sick you completely lost your appetite and it was hard even getting you to drink your formula.

I did let you try some baby "puffs"- little snack treats that are flavored like banana that help you work on your "pincer grasp". So far you feel so-so about them but you like picking them up! It's the getting-them-in-your-mouth that's the tricky part. I also let you sample a few things by chewing them- a whole green bean, for example, and a slice of pear. You seem to enjoy that a lot, so I'll continue letting you try some foods this way (I also have this mesh feeder that we're going to try out). This month, you're also going to try yogurt and meat- though I'm not sure I want to puree meat so I might just grind some turkey or chicken into very fine pieces. You've been working on your sippy cup skills- you figured out how to drink/suck from it, but you can't quite tip it back far enough to do it completely by yourself.

You are still on two meals a day and 6 bottles, but I think we might go to three meals soon, plus 5 bottles per day (same total amount of formula, though you haven't been drinking quite as much lately).

Weight: No official weight check this month, but when we were at the ER last week, they weighed you at 17 lbs (with clothes on). I would expect your weight gain to be much less this month, because you really weren't eating your normal amounts for the last two weeks.

Diaper Size: Size 3 pampers. We really pushed the size 2 to try to get through the box I had! Size 3 fits much better.

Clothes Size: 6-9 months. You can still fit into a few 3-6 month outfits though.

Milestones/Firsts: First Christmas and first presents! (posts to come soon on our trip home). First trip to the ER (see above) and first ear infection (ugh).

You are a total pro at sitting and can turn and reach for things far away and still come back to the sitting position. If I'm sitting next to you, you will try to pull up onto my lap from the sitting position- you can't quite do it yet though, but you can get on your knees. Also, you can go from a sitting position onto your tummy- sometimes you can stay at the hand-knee position for a minute but you can't hold yourself up like that for very long yet. But, you have gotten really good at army crawling- today you inched across your entire room! And you can turn on your tummy and roll so you can get anywhere you want to go (albeit very slowly). We haven't needed baby gates yet but I've been researching which ones would work best because I think I might need to order them either this month or next.

You reach for people (especially mommy and daddy) very frequently to be picked up. You love to touch people's faces (and pull off glasses or tug on hair).

Likes/Dislikes: Ugh, the hatred for the car came back with a vengeance, perhaps because we spent more time than usual in the car this month with all our traveling. You actually seem okay with the carseat but as soon as we put the carseat in the car, the waterworks begin (even if one of us is back there with you).

Towards the end of the month, you've become a real mommy's girl- when you get tired or cranky, you just want me to hold you and no one else will do (Daddy for some reason seems much funnier from my arms). I'll try to sit you right next to me on the floor and you'll try to climb up into my lap almost immediately. It's certainly flattering and I love the extra snuggles but I don't want you to have separation anxiety so I'm hoping it's a relatively short phase!

You love music, singing, and dancing. As soon as someone sings to you or starts dancing, you just get the biggest smiles. I hope your love of music continues!

(thanks to my sister for this photo)

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T13:28:00.007-05:00

We had a fully-packed and fun visit back home for Christmas and I have a lot of photos to process from the visit, and stories to share.

In thinking about the past year- 2011 was all about the baby. I apologize for anyone reading my blog who is bored by all the constant baby-talk, but having Nora has been a life-altering experience and has been quite consuming, both in heart and mind. My life has gravitated around this tiny being for the last year.

*photo by Shey Detterline

I'm hoping that 2012 is a year of balance. While I certainly will still be largely posting about baby stuff (as family and friends read this blog for updates), I'm hoping to find more balance in my life overall between the baby, Kevin, my friends, my family, my job, and myself. And no, I have no idea how I'm going to accomplish that- ha! Wish me luck. :)

Wishing You Joy

2011-12-21T20:21:00.003-05:00

We are getting ready to spend some time with family and I may not be around next week. I wanted to send out my wishes for you, dear readers: May the holiday season fill you with wonder, and may you find joy all around you.

Happy holidays!

Stroller Riding

2011-12-18T12:50:00.003-05:00

Nora started riding in the "big girl" part of her stroller (ie, not in her infant carseat attachment). Speaking of the infant carseat, Nora is still using hers, but it's started to really kill my back to carry that seat around! I can't wait to transition soon to the convertible carseat, though it won't be as convenient in some cases (like when she falls asleep in the car and I can just keep her in the infant seat).

Anyway, the stroller- Nora loves it! We've been bundling her up and going on lots of walks:

It's been getting pretty cold though, so on blustery days we put her into a full-blown fleece suit. She looks so cute. I'm not sure how she feels about it though.

New Bathroom Tile

2011-12-12T08:21:00.000-05:00

Ever since we moved in, we have hated our bathroom tile. It's like this awful brown color... with brown grout. Ugh! I don't know who made that decision, but terrible fail. It always looked dirty and no matter how much you scrubbed it, it looked gross.

Exhibit A:

The marble threshold I actually liked but it didn't match the brown tile/grout combo at all. So last week we hired a handyman to replace the tile. He actually was able to put the new tile right on top of the old tile- which saved a lot of work/expense! We picked a light gray color (with white grout) to go with the marble threshold. I think it looks a ton better... so happy we got that done!

Add to that a new shower curtain and I'm pretty happy! :) (I didn't have time to iron out the creases in the shower curtain, so please pretend it's nice and smooth).

Favorite 2-6 month Baby Items

2011-12-10T14:18:00.000-05:00

I blogged about my favorite items for a newborn baby, but now that I'm six months into motherhood, what would I recommend?

Well, first I'd like to say that pretty much everything on my first list I still love. The only thing I'd take off the list is the Sleep Giraffe/Sheep. While adorable, the 45-minute timer kept waking Nora up when it turned off- argh! So instead I'd go with this Homedics Sound Machine, which is reasonably priced, plugs in so no batteries are necessary, and can go all night long. :)

I'd also love to reassert my love for the Rock n' Play. Mostly because even though we transitioned out of the RnP about 3 months ago, when Nora has a little cold she can sleep in the RnP so much better than in her crib because it's elevated. We also still use it for naps. I wish they made one of these for toddlers! (photo below is from my phone about a month ago. She's cuddling with suck monkey).

Okay, new items:

1) Changing table from Ikea. I know, I know, I still have never shared pictures of the nursery. But our changing table (the Hemnes Chest) is great. It's just the right height and the right price. It has nice drawer space. I found those cute bins at Target and they fit just perfectly in there. I love how it looks!

2) Large playmat. Nora still loves her activity gym but is getting too big for it. Once babies can roll, I would recommend this Tiny Love Super Mat. My parents had one for our visit in October and it is super soft and padded, with lots of space for rolling. There is also a mirror and places to attach toys.

3) Munchkin Spoons. These do what they're designed to- they're easy to use, long enough, not too deep or too shallow, and they're bright and cute.

4) Highchair. Or rather, the lack of a highchair? These things take up so much space and they aren't cute. For our tiny house, we just wanted something that didn't take up space, and this Fisher Price chair/booster seat fits the bill. It's super easy to clean, fits on any chair you already own, and will work through toddlerhood. It's not particularly cushy, so baby will need to be able to sit up straight at least mostly unassisted to sit in here- which they should be doing anyway before eating most foods. It has five stars and over 1000 reviews on Amazon!
5) Crib sheets. One of my top pieces of advice for those preparing for baby's arrival: do NOT buy a "crib set". These are sets that include sheets, then usually a crib bumper and crib skirt, and maybe a blanket. Except... you can't use the blanket in the crib, and you really shouldn't be using a crib bumper either. So basically you've only used half of the set. Instead, I recommend buying sheets individually. We also have a breathable bumper which works pretty well. Anyway we got our sheets from Carousel Designs and they are so cute. You can individually buy sheets, crib skirts, curtains, and yes even crib bumpers and pick the material you want for them ("design your own"). They are maybe a little pricey but I got three different sheets and it was still cheaper than a crib set.

6) Glider. I have to preface this by saying I never would have been able to afford this on my own, but we got the Carter glider from Room and Board as a gift from Kevin's grandmother, in charcoal. I wasn't sure at first how much we would use a glider, but I can testify- I have used it every day since Nora arrived. Heck, the first 3 months I spent the majority of the day there nursing! It is such a great chair. Classy-looking, soft, comfortable- I love it. I plan to own it for a long time! The nice thing about it is it could easily be used in another room after we are done using it for the nursery.

7) Hands-free pump bra. Pumping is not fun at all but this item is essential for your sanity- at least it allows you to read a magazine or check your email! I love the pictures amazon has for it, too....

8) Board Books- Goodnight Moon, The Night You were Born, That's Not my Monkey, Moo Baa La la la, Time for Bed, The Little Hoot/Pea/Oink books, and many others. I'm always surprised how much Nora already likes books. She likes holding the pages and flipping them. I'm sure she's not paying attention to the storyline yet but she loves the pictures.

9) Snap n' Go Stroller. We bought this specifically for traveling and it's been great. Works with our Chicco carseat, folds super easily, light-weight, has lots of space beneath the stroller. You can just put your carseat in it, go through security and right up to the gate where you can check the stroller and the carseat separately. It's also great for car trips or quick outings where you want a stroller but wouldn't want to pack up the Bob (which we love but it's pretty heavy). Unfortunately once your baby is out of the infant carseat it's no longer useful.

10) If you're making your own baby food, you'll probably want an ice cube tray or two to freeze the puree into individual portions (Nora eats 2 cubes per meal right now). I like this one because it's easy to get the cubes out after freezing and it has a sliding cover. I usually move the cubes to a freezer bag after 24 hours but sometimes I don't take them out right away so the lid is a nice feature.

11) A Jumperoo. I debated between this and an exersaucer. I think she would have liked the exersaucer but in the end I'm glad I got the jumperoo because she just started jumping in it and it's so funny to watch- she gets super excited about it. She started using it at about 4 months old and still likes it, though I have a feeling once she starts crawling it's not going to be fun for her to be stuck in the jumperoo. Still, I'm definitely glad to have another place where she can entertain herself for awhile!

12) Teething toys. She didn't like Sophie the Giraffe at first (a glorified doggie chew toy), but now she definitely enjoys sticking Sophie's legs in her mouth and making her squeak. She also loves this Ring of Links and has enjoyed them for months. This Winkel Toy I like because it looks like an atom- and she likes because it's easy to grab and it rattles. We have a number of other toys but actually one of her favorite things is just plastic measuring spoons and cups. She's totally fascinated by the 1/2 tablespoon right now- ha!

13) Halo sleepsack/Carters sleepsack. Now that we're finally done with swaddling, we've entered the world of the sleepsack- aka how you keep the kid warm at night without blankets in the crib. I like the Carters fleece sleepsacks, but the 0-9 month ones only fit Nora up to 6 months, and they don't have any larger ones. Halo makes some super soft fleece ones too but they don't have sleeves. That's what we're using now and I like them.

So there you have it! I'm probably forgetting some things, but these are all things I would definitely recommend!

*Some of these links are Amazon associate links, but I have earned nothing for recommending these items in my blog, and the recommendations are my own.

Nora: Month Six

2011-12-04T18:00:00.000-05:00

Dear Nora-

A line from one of our bedtime stories "On The Night You Were Born" reads, "On the night you were born, the moon smiled with such wonder that the stars peeked in to see you, and the night wind whispered, 'Life will never be the same.'"

Six months we have now been blessed with you in our lives. It hasn't always been easy, or fun, and I've never felt so tired or so constantly worried. We discuss poop on a more descriptive level than I ever thought possible. I haven't watched television or read a non-baby book since you were born. But... I've also never felt so happy or so fulfilled. I love your dad even more now. I could stare at you for hours. I love watching you learn and grow. Sometimes looking at you makes my heart feel like it will burst. No, life will never be the same, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Sleeping: Sleep difficulties continued this month. We finally started getting you out of the swaddle habit. It worked pretty good the first few nights and then you realized you could roll in your crib. So you'd roll over and then start crying because you didn't know how to sleep on your tummy, and in your upset state you also couldn't remember how to roll back the other way. So we'd revert back to swaddling for a few nights so we could get some sleep, then try unswaddling again.

Eventually you were waking up 5-6 times per night even swaddled, so we decided to do a little sleep training (using the Ferber method). With both of us working/schooling, we were just getting too tired and you were getting cranky during the day too, so something needed to be done. With this method, we basically put you in your crib and leave and then you scream for 3 minutes, we go in a check on you, then you scream for 5 minutes, then 7, then 10, etc until basically you're so tired you fall asleep. :) The first night was rough- it took about 45 minutes of crying. But that night you slept through the night for the first time in weeks! Since then your sleeping has been a ton better. There has been some more crying when we first put you down, but usually only ~10 minutes at the most. Occasionally you still wake up once in the middle of the night and it can be hard to get you to fall asleep again so we're still working on it. But you now sleep on your tummy and you seem to be quickly learning how to fall asleep by yourself again when you wake up in between sleep cycles. You usually sleep from 8pm-6am, then eat and go back to sleep until 8am.

Naps are still short. Usually you take three 30 minute naps a day- or two 45 minute naps. Sometimes we get a little more, sometimes less. And I usually rock you to sleep for those... but I don't usually mind as long as it works. :)

Eating: You started solids this month! We started with oatmeal, and you seemed to like eating but were kind of "meh" about the oatmeal itself. So next we tried sweet potatoes, and you loved those! Then we moved to avocado- major dislike. You'd make the cutest "gross" face and then spit it back out. Since then we've tried banana (love- especially mixed with oatmeal, less so by itself), pumpkin (really love), green beans (love), apples (dislike by themselves- too tart maybe? okay in oatmeal), and carrots (like). You're up to eating twice a day- breakfast (oatmeal + 1-2oz fruit) and lunch (2oz veggies).

In terms of bottles, though I weaned you once you turned five months, I actually had enough frozen breastmilk saved up to give you a bottle a day for the last month. Woohoo! That means I technically made my goal of at least some breastmilk for 6 months. Otherwise, you've been on Goodstart Gentle formula and drink 30 oz a day (six bottles, 5 oz each).

Weight: All the good eating you've been doing means that you gained 4 lbs in the last 2 months. You now weigh 16lbs 10oz, and are 26.25" long. I love all your little rolls and buddha belly!

Diaper size: Size 2 pampers swaddlers. Eek, I have a new huge box of these and they're only good up to 18 lbs! Hopefully we'll get through most of them....

Clothes size: Perfectly fitting 3-6 months. You're growing so fast though I'm not sure you'll be in them much longer- maybe another 2-4 weeks? I feel like you hardly got to wear some of them....

Milestones/Firsts: First foods. Your first Thanksgiving. First time sleeping unswaddled at night. :) First time riding in the "big kid" part of the stroller instead of the infant car seat.

First time sitting unassisted! (see the youtube video here). From the time you were tripoding/gorilla sitting to the time you could sit for longer than a minute or two was about 3 weeks. Now you've been sitting up like a pro for at least a week and a half! You also learned how to blow raspberries- it's lost a little of its appeal now but when you first figured it out you spent the next 48 hours blowing raspberries. You also figured out how to jump in the jumperoo. You're quite the little jumping bean. You have perfected the "reach and grab"- nothing is safe :). You were sitting on my lap the other night during dinner and I almost lost my plate when you grabbed onto the placemat and pulled! And you are completely enamored with Mommy's hair. You can turn yourself in a circle on your tummy and have started to reach and wiggle towards objects placed far away from you. And you've started to cry if I try to take away an object you're interested in!

Likes/Dislikes: You love music and when people sing to you. You especially love "I've been working on the railroad" and "I'm a little teapot". You also love our family dance parties. You finally tolerate the carseat without crying, hurray! You love our stroller rides- though you get very serious, I think you're trying to take everything in. Daddy can really get you laughing. You still love the cats (especially Bixby because she doesn't mind too much when you pet her).

How has it already been six months? I can't believe all the wonderful things we have to look forward to in the next six before we have a one-year old on our hands. :)

Six Months Post-partum

2011-11-29T22:14:00.001-05:00

Six months post-partum and I finally feel like my body is my own again.

Which, in many ways is bittersweet. I *loved* being pregnant. Especially after 20 weeks. I loved the baby bump, the baby kicks and rolls (the most amazing feeling in the world), the ultrasounds, the ba-da-boom sound of the heartbeat in my doppler. It feels now like one of the shortest, sweetest moments of my life.

There were things about pregnancy that weren't so great. The constant nausea of the first trimester; the not-knowing if things were really okay; the pitting edema I got in the third trimester (I think Kevin thought that was cool though- he could seriously push down on my ankle and leave a finger indent that would last like 5 minutes. Eww. That might have been my least favorite thing). The difficulty sleeping in the third trimester (though honestly looking back I was sleeping 100x better than those first few weeks after we brought Nora home).

And then you think, oh, it will be nice to have "myself" back after the birth. But you don't, at least if you're breastfeeding- you still can't take certain medications, go on a drinking binge (not like I really wanted to, but the option wasn't there...), have too much coffee, etc. And then about 3 months post-partum, you start losing handfuls- and I mean HANDFULS- of hair. I guess because your hormones are all giving you beautiful hair, skin, and nails while pregnant, and then that plug is pulled.

But now-- I feel like me again. I'm no longer breastfeeding. I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight (actually a few pounds under). The hair loss has finally tapered off to pre-pregnancy levels. The water retention lasted a few weeks after birth and I have never been so appreciative of my ankle bones. My c-section scar is still apparent, but it has softened to the touch and you would never see it in a bathing suit. After months of belly bloat and waiting for the organs to re-settle into the space previously filled by 7 lbs of baby, my stomach seems mostly back to normal. Though my belly button might never look the same again.

I didn't get many stretch marks, but I did get a little circle of them right around my belly button. I was so worried about stretch marks but I don't mind these. They have faded and are very light and silvery already. They spiral around my belly button like a galaxy, a reminder of the world I shared with Nora for a short time and the world I once shared with my own mother. For sure, my body is my own again- but I will never be the same.

Our Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T10:46:00.006-05:00

We decided not to travel home for Thanksgiving this year, as it just seemed like too much work and money with little Nora, and we're traveling home for Christmas. We definitely missed seeing family and spending time at the cabin, though! It's funny to see pictures of my nephew from last year and to think he was about the same age as Nora is now.

Anyway, we had numerous kind offers of friends here to join them for Thanksgiving, but Kevin and I thought it would be kind of fun to have our own little Thanksgiving, just the three of us.

First, I wanted to enjoy the nice weather and get some family photos. Warning- lots of pictures ahead!

"Poke the tummy" usually gets a smile:

We even brought our tripod to get one of all three of us. This is my favorite (it was tricky to get Nora looking in the right direction):

We went home- Kevin cooked up an absolutely fabulous dinner of roasted chicken, garlic smashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and cranberry relish. What an amazing husband I have!

He also made homemade pumpkin pie for dessert with homemade whipped cream, and I made a cranberry pear crumble. So good!

Then after Nora was in bed, the Ravens were playing so Kevin got some good football/cat cuddling time.

All in all, a successful Thanksgiving!

Thankful

2011-11-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

We have so much to be thankful for this year.

Our health, our families, the roof over our heads (let's ignore the leak from our shower onto our first floor ceiling that is a bit worrisome, because honestly? I'm just grateful to have a warm, dry, safe place to call home).

The food in our bellies (Kevin and I are cooking quite the feast for the three of us, even though technically only two of us will be eating. Well, Nora might have some sweet potatoes).

My job, and Kevin's opportunity to go to medical school. Our freedom to pursue our dreams.

Our marriage. Our friendships.

But most of all, this year I'm grateful for this face looking up at me every morning:

I hope you find joy in your heart this Thanksgiving!

Daddy is so funny

2011-11-19T12:02:00.001-05:00

First Solids

2011-11-13T15:11:00.002-05:00

Last week we introduced Nora to the world of "solid" food- or in this case, not-so-solid baby oatmeal (and I apologize for the quality of photos in this post- the lighting is terrible at our table! I also apologize if you're one of those people that, like me, hate seeing pictures of babies with food all over their faces. It's somewhat different when it's my own baby for some reason...).

First I just have to show this picture because she reminds of like the Godfather here:

"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse..."

Daddy giving her her first bite:

First reaction? "What the heck is this stuff?"

"Well, maybe I'll give it another try...."

"Not too bad!"

She actually mostly likes chewing it a bit and then spitting it back out. I don't think she actually eats much of it- I imagine it's pretty bland. After trying it for the last week, we tried sweet potatoes today- those were a real hit! Apparently they were my favorite food as a baby too. She actually did eat almost all that we offered to her. I'm looking forward to trying all kinds of new foods in the coming weeks!

Oh, and I'm making the baby food right now- it's pretty easy and you can freeze a lot of it in ice cube trays, so it ends up being slightly more cost effective than buying it. I've been using the website www.wholesomebabyfood.com. Though we might still buy things like carrot baby food because apparently if you make it yourself you can have some nitrate issues. I think I might try bananas next so that she can have that with her cereal and it will make the cereal taste a little better.

Trip to Colorado

2011-11-07T08:17:00.000-05:00

About a week ago, Nora and I ventured to Colorado so I could go to a work conference and so that her grandparents could love her up a little bit. :) (Kevin sadly had medical school duties).

My conference was great, though definitely a little constrained due to the baby being with me- for example, I couldn't go to the several evening activities, including a poster session, dinner at the Denver Art Museum, and another dinner for a committee I'm on. On the other hand, I usually get pretty burned out on all that socializing pretty fast anyway, so maybe it's just as well.

I did get to talk to a lot of different people, so that was great. I presented two posters, though I thought the poster sessions were too short.

Nora, meanwhile, got spoiled rotten by her two grandmas. :)

She also saw her first snow, though I forgot to get a picture of it. It doesn't stick to the ground long in Colorado! I hadn't brought any of her really warm snow garments so we really couldn't go outside anyway. I'll take a picture next time....

She also met her first dog, Dante- I think she had a mixed opinion. She thought his little bark was quite funny. She laughed about the barking for like 5 minutes, it was so cute! But, she wasn't a fan of his ear infatuation:

Here's a little happier picture of my mom and dad with the two "little ones":

Kevin's mom also kindly planned a pizza dinner with us and a good portion of the rest of their extended family, some who hadn't met Nora yet, so we got to see everyone and it was lots of fun- though Nora was a little grumpy. Dinner time is always rough!

Overall, I know the grandparents loved seeing Nora, since they haven't seen her for 2-3 months and she's grown a lot. I wish we lived closer so they could see her more!

Nora: Month Five

2011-11-03T06:14:00.001-04:00

Dear Nora-

Five months old and you're ready to get moving! The last two weeks you have gotten tired of lying around and want to constantly be sitting up (assisted), rolling, and reaching for whatever is closest, whether it's the cat (Bixby is surprisingly tolerant of your petting) or Mommy's hair (ouch!). Everything is interesting, and this has made it easier to entertain you. You finally can keep yourself occupied for ~10 minutes at a time on your playmat or the jumperoo (still not a huge amount of time, but at least we don't have to carry you around or face screaming like we did a couple months ago!). You find all kinds of things funny, like peek-a-boo, silly songs we sing to you, or when your grandparents' dog Dante barks. Your smiles light up our days, and those around us- you love to smile at people and see them fawn :).

Sleeping: We had some sleep regression this month. It wasn't too bad though- just more frequent random wakings where you would start screaming but usually could be calmed down and back to sleep in less than 5 minutes with some pacifier help (you otherwise don't really like the pacifier much anymore). This typically happens about once a night, sometimes twice- fortunately it's often before we go to bed ourselves. Otherwise, you still sleep from about 8:30pm to 5:30am, sometimes 6am. Naps were really rough this month (one day at daycare, you slept a total of 35 minutes all day!) but even in the last couple of days naps seemed to be improving.... we'll see if that continues.

And.... we still swaddle. :( We have gotten you to sleep naps with either one arm out or both out, so I feel like we're working towards getting rid of the pesky swaddle, but I tried it for a weekend at night and realized I like my sleep too much- you woke up like 3 times and had such a hard time calming your arms down to fall asleep. It's just so much easier when you pass out right away swaddled! But, I'm hoping maybe this next month is the month and we'll slowly be able to wean you out of it. Time will tell!

Eating: As I mentioned last month, I started supplementing formula and began a slow weaning process as you still preferred the bottle and my supply was not responding to various boosting methods. For the first half of the month, I was able to provide all your daycare bottles, which was great, but then due to a work conference and the associated stress, my supply dropped further, so I decided to not fight it and dropped a work pumping session, which happily provided me with more time during the work day, though I was sad about ending everything. So then we went down to 3 bottles of breastmilk per day, then 2 bottles, and now we're just down to frozen milk and 1 bottle per day, which should continue for maybe the next 2 weeks or so.

I nursed you for the last real time on Halloween morning, and I tried to memorize the moment- your long eyelashes against your round cheeks, your legs curled up against me, your little hand reaching up to stroke my face, your happy sounds of contentment, the early morning light just creeping in through the curtain, and the feeling of no one but you and me in the world. I know you will not remember it, but I will cherish these five months of nursing you for forever.

Weight: Not actually sure since we don't have a doctor's appointment this month, but I'm estimating about 14 lbs right now.

Diaper Size: Size 2. I really pushed the size 1 for as long as possible because of that giant box that I had, but size 2 seems to fit much better.

Clothes Size: Comfortably in 3-6 months. I had to put away all your 0-3 month things.

Milestones/Firsts: First time apple-picking and visiting a pumpkin patch. First time meeting more extended family on Kevin's side. First plane ride alone with Mommy (overall, a success! More about our trip home to Colorado later). First meeting of a dog (Dante). First Halloween and first costume.

You really worked toward sitting up this month. Though you still can't do it completely unassisted, if you're sitting still and not trying to grab something you can do it by yourself. You just are constantly grabbing for whatever is in front of you which makes you fall over :). You babble a lot and sometimes I'm just dying to know what you're talking about because it sounds so interesting! You're very good at raking your hands along the floor and grabbing objects. If only you could use that hand control for better use at night when you're trying to sleep! You also got better at rolling and now you roll right to your stomach as soon as I set you down.

Likes/Dislikes: I saw some marginal improvement during car rides. It sort of depends on your mood on whether you'll scream or not. You like rolling around on the floor. You love your jumperoo! Still haven't really started jumping yet though. You can now twist your way out of the bumbo so that doesn't really work so well anymore. You love bath time, and you love our cats, especially Bixby (Karma seems more keen on avoiding baby hands, though she doesn't mind you if you're not grabbing for her). You could spend long periods of time just grabbing at objects and then tossing them aside (spoons, keys, cups, toys, etc). You finally started to get and enjoy peekaboo, and you like looking in mirrors as well. You have some stranger anxiety popping up- it's not terrible yet, but if you're already a bit tired or grumpy you do not like being handed to someone new. You like being carried in the baby bjorn and looking outward- much preferred to the Ergo carrier, though I'm hoping we'll still get some use out of the Ergo as a back carrier when you're a little bigger.

We just love seeing you take interest in the world and developing your own personality. My baby book says that months 4-7 are some of the best in the first year because babies are more interactive but can't quite cause so much trouble yet :). So far, I'm loving every minute. I still look at you in amazement every day and wonder at the awesome blessing you are in our lives. How lucky are we?

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T06:05:00.001-04:00

Our little pumpkin!

I love this picture of Kevin getting her all set up for the photo- the light is a little better, I didn't do very well getting setting the camera up for such bright light- we were in a hurry to take the pictures before our pumpkin got tired!

Me and my pumpkin in the pumpkin patch:

Kevin and the pumpkin he picked from the patch:

And finally, a somewhat grumpy pumpkin after all these photos:

We hope you have a fun holiday! And on a personal note, I'd like to wish my little brother a very happy birthday today.

Apple Picking at Larriland Farms

2011-10-23T08:37:00.001-04:00

A couple of weekends, we drove ~40 minutes out of Baltimore to go apple-picking for the first time at Larriland Farms. We also went to get pictures of Nora in the pumpkin patch but I'm going to save those for Halloween.

Larriland was *very* busy with kids and other people enjoying the warm and windy fall weather. The apples were clearly getting towards the end of their season but we managed to find some good ones. It was pretty out there too- reminded me a bit of Loveland!

I have to comment on Nora's outfit now- it's a little wild. She's wearing her CSU Rams onesie, and the only pants I could find to match the color green were these floral pants, but then she needed socks so her feet wouldn't be cold, so she has CSU green and gold socks. It's kind of special, but hey, her parents aren't exactly fashionistas.

I love her look of concentration as Kevin held her up to the apple:

There were rows and rows of apples! We picked some Fuji and Stayman varieties. And it was really really bright out so I found it hard to get good pictures- so many sharp shadows! Oh well.

Nora and I are off to Colorado this next week for my conference and so Nora can hang out with some of her biggest fans (aka grandparents and other relatives), so posting will resume on Halloween, when I share Nora's 1st Halloween costume!

Our Little Artist

2011-10-17T06:47:00.000-04:00

I don't know if all daycares do this or not, but at our daycare, they do artwork with the babies. I think it's so funny! Obviously Nora isn't just hanging out with a paintbrush. I think they maybe put their little hands in the non-toxic paint and then hold a piece of paper up and let them go to town? I have to say though, I love when they send her artwork home! They also have the whole room covered in the babies' artwork. It's fun to look at all the stuff that's kept her busy during the days!

This one she painted a few weeks ago while Kevin was in psychiatry. We joke that she painted a brain for her dad in honor of his rotation!

And I guess this day she was being the brooding dark artist. I think I've seen this one at the Guggenheim before.

One day she got in the Raven spirit:

And I love this one- handprints. The one on the left is her teacher's, and the blob on the right is Nora's "handprint". Ha!

I'm thinking taking pictures of these is actually a good way to save them- we get a bunch every few weeks and I'm not sure about saving the paper hard copies- is that terrible? Am I going to want them someday? I could save the particularly cute ones. But she's going to have a ton of artwork over the years of being a kid, I presume. I just feel a little bad about throwing them away.

Friday Fragments

2011-10-14T06:21:00.000-04:00

1) Kevin's last day of his psychiatry/neurology rotation is today. Psychiatry=thumbs up; neurology=thumbs down. More or less. I was generally a fan of his schedule during this rotation though! We're going to be moving into some harder rotations soon. Surgery rotation is after Christmas and I'm pretty worried about that one.

2) Nora has started refusing to sleep at daycare. Not sure what to do about that one, but it can't be healthy- today she slept for 35 minutes. Like from 8 am when she woke up, until 8pm when I put her to bed, she only took one 35 minute nap. It was weird, she normally acts exhausted and cranky when she gets home but today she was wide awake. I tried to get her to take a nap but she was just wide-eyed (overtired, maybe?). And then at bedtime she was asleep before her head hit the mattress. Anyone have any tips? I'm going to talk to the daycare people about it, and see if there's anything we can do at home to help her sleep better during the day....

3) I've just started freaking out about the fact that when I go to Colorado with Nora for this science conference, there's going to be a two hour time change. Nora goes to sleep at night like clockwork, and wakes up pretty much like clockwork, so yeah... her 5:30am wake up is going to be like a 3:30a wake up. Hmmm.... not. good. Probably by the time she adjusts it will be time to come home, and then like a week later we'll have daylight savings!

4) We can't get canned pumpkin at our grocery store. They say they've been sold out for 8 weeks now. I wanted to make these homemade pumpkin spice lattes but there's no pumpkin. You know why? Because everyone is so worried about a perceived shortage that they buy cans and cans of pumpkin whenever it gets stocked. Which means no pumpkin lattes for us. :(

5) Speaking of the conference, getting things done now is much harder- I can't just stay late at work if I need to finish things up. It does make me focus a lot more during the day when I'm at work (doing paper reviews while pumping milk!), but sometimes it still feels like I can't keep up. And what is it about getting asked to do paper reviews at your busiest times at work? It's like the editors have radar... like, the last paper I got asked to review was two days before I went into labor with Nora. But, I got it done!

6) There are all these little issues with our house that neither Kevin nor I have time to fix, so I need to call someone to fix them, but I don't know exactly who to call. Like, we need our back doors painted, the grout in our bathroom redone, weather stripping redone around windows and doors, etc... ugh. I've also been thinking about hiring a cleaning person like once a month or something. I'm finding it very hard to keep up with housework.

7) Happy friday!! We're going to try to go to a pumpkin patch this weekend with the baby to take pictures.

A few cute pictures...

2011-10-10T12:05:00.002-04:00

.... since I am swamped with work before this conference in 2 weeks and don't have time to properly blog- my apologies! Let my cute baby distract you.

Here she is in her new jumperoo. Hasn't quite gotten the hang of "jumping", but she does seem to like the toys.

She's moving into 3-6 month clothes! Here's one that some friends got her from Old Navy, I believe- so cute, I love the hoodie!

"Well golly gee willickers, I *do* look pretty adorable!

Modeling the hoodie:

Nora: Month Four

2011-10-04T06:03:00.000-04:00

Dear Nora-

1/3rd of your first year is complete- crazy! This month was a complete joy for us. You really did grow out of the newborn stage and into a baby with personality and interest in everything around you. Towards the end of the month it was astonishing at how fast some of the changes were occurring- suddenly you were a rolling, squealing, laughing bundle of joy. You seem to be growing out of a lot of your reflux/fussy problems (for the most part). You're also able to entertain yourself for longer periods of time now, though you still favor being held and carried around (particularly when Mom and Dad are eating dinner).

Sleeping: Daycare wears you out! You come home and sometimes want to nap before bedtime. Bedtime is currently around 8:30pm and it's one of the best parts of my day- we read stories and snuggle while you drink your last bottle, with the lights dim. It is such a sweet feeling. You sleep from 8:30pm to 5:30am, so 9 hours straight- you go baby Nora! Then you go back to bed for another 2 hours. Daytime sleep is much more difficult particularly at daycare- you are not one of those babies that will just sleep through anything. Usually you get maybe 2 hours of sleep at daycare (and usually not all at once but in 1/2 hour increments). But since you're sleeping through the night, I certainly don't mind too much!

Oh, and we made the big transition from the Rock-n-Play to the crib- it went great! We propped the crib up at first so it still had an incline like the RnP, but after a week of that I removed it and now you're sleeping fine in there flat. But.... we still haven't de-swaddled. I'm scared. As soon as we let your arms go they're all up in your face, going crazy, in your mouth, in your eyes- yikes! I think you might be able to fall asleep without the swaddle at night but I'm worried you'll be waking up every hour. But we have to do it pretty soon because you're rolling now and you can often get out of the swaddle.

Miss Crazy Arms:

Eating: Breastfeeding took a major hit this month- namely, you developed a strong bottle preference. :( I can't really blame you- the flow is apparently much faster (even though we switched to "preemie flow" nipples). It's been quite the struggle because you're constantly latching on, latching off, latching on- and my supply was dropping. I started supplementing about halfway through the month with formula and it definitely has been helping both of us. I can still pump enough for the milk you drink at daycare, but I'm frustrated enough that I might be slowly dropping nursing sessions in the next month until my supply is low enough to not be worth it. I've come to actually really like our bottle sessions though because we can read stories together and it goes much smoother than nursing lately. I'm so proud that I've made it to 4 months breastfeeding though with all the time I spend pumping and nursing! I know most people won't understand it, but it means a lot to me to be able to do this for you as long as possible. I wish I could do it longer.

Weight: At your 3 month appointment, you only weighed 10 lbs, which is less than the 5th percentile, so I got a little worried even though the pediatrician said it was fine. That led to my decision to start supplementing a little because your rate of growth according to my calculations had declined from the previous month. And at your 4 month appointment? You weighed 12 lbs 9 oz! Holy weight gain! I think you were playing catch up from the month before. Now you're in the 25th percentile for weight and height (23.5" long).

Diaper Size: Size one, but they're definitely starting to get tight. We have one more giant box of them though, so I'm hoping they last for a little longer, then we'll move up to size two.

Clothes Size: Mostly still 0-3 months, but you've started to outgrow them. You fit Carters 3M size pretty much perfectly right now, but I'm sure in a couple of weeks they'll start to be too small. You have lots of cute 3-6 month clothes though and they're more appropriate for colder weather, so it's probably good that you're getting big enough for them.

Milestones/Firsts: You made your first outloud laughter. I love those little happy shrieks and squeals! You also got your first sickness. You got very good at grabbing for toys- you love your playmat right now and the monkey and the elephant that hang down. You started doing "baby crunches"- pulling your chest and head up while lying down- I think in preparation for sitting. When we pull you up now your head doesn't flop back but stays inline with your body. There was lots of "talking"- trying out different octaves and different vowel sounds. And you learned to roll! (see the youtube sensation here).

Likes/Dislikes: You really hate the carseat and riding in the car. I think I've seen marginal improvement at the end of this month when I turn the radio up louder, but you usually cry the entire time I'm driving. Thank god daycare is so close. You still hate the swing. You love your playmat and like the bumbo (see picture below) for at least a short period of time. You love baths now- yay! Also, you started to get really interested in our cats. They better watch out once you start getting mobile!

It's also clear that you know who certain people are now- like you definitely know mommy and daddy! You also know who your main teachers are- because when a different teacher comes in I've heard you are not a fan. Luckily I don't think you've scared away too many of our babysitters... yet. :) You find the mirror more interesting than ever before- we can definitely see your growing awareness of other people (or in the case of the mirror, that awfully cute baby looking back at you).

Sweetpea, you amaze us each and every day, and since we don't get to spend 24 hours a day with you, we try to make each hour we do get worthwhile. I love that each day might hold a new surprise of what you might do. We're looking forward to all the fun that month five is going to hold!

My Schedule

2011-09-30T07:46:00.000-04:00

I wanted to get this down now, since this schedule is always evolving! This has been our schedule for the last month or so now that I'm back to work. It's pretty hectic, and I'm so thankful for the flexibility of my workplace. Things will probably be a little easier once I stop breastfeeding.

5:30 a.m. : Wake up to feed Nora. She's been making it a little closer to 6 a.m. lately. She goes back to sleep right away after eating.

6:00 a.m.: Pump #1. Pumping is such a pain!

6:15 a.m.: Breakfast, get dressed and ready for the day.

6:30 -8:30 a.m.: Start teleworking. I can usually get through emails and start any data processing or other easy tasks, or work on programming.

8:30 a.m.: Nora usually wakes up and I feed her, get her dressed, and we head out to daycare.

8:45 a.m.- 5:30 p.m: Nora is at daycare. She has 4 bottles at daycare, one every 2 hours.

Meanwhile, if I'm commuting to work:

~10 a.m.: Arrive at work.

10:30 a.m.: Pump #2.

1 pm: Pump #3.

3:30 pm: Pump #4.

4 pm: Leave work and most likely fight awful traffic and stress out.

5-5:30pm (hopefully): Pick up Nora at daycare.

6pm: Feed Nora.

6:30-8 pm: Play, eat dinner with Kevin (he usually puts everything together while I entertain Nora), start cleaning bottles and pump parts while Kevin has the baby for a little while. Every other night we also give Nora a bath.

8 p.m.: Bedtime for Nora. Eats and we read two stories and sing a lullaby or two, then she's swaddled and placed in the crib. She usually passes out right away and sleeps until 5:30am the next morning (knock on wood).

8:30-10pm: Clean all the bottles and pump parts and prepare bottles for daycare (usually takes at least an hour). Do all my interneting. :) Pack lunch.

10 pm.: Pump #5 (see why I hate pumping so much? I have to do it all the dang time!)

10:30-11 pm: Finish interneting and head to bed.

On the days I work from home, I work more like 9 hour days since I don't have the lengthy commute, which helps me pick up any slack from all the pumping sessions. :)

Other working moms- how does your schedule compare?

And a little Nora photo for reading all of this:

Laughter is the best medicine

2011-09-27T05:04:00.000-04:00

We had been getting some little giggles, but over the weekend we got to hear Nora's first real laughs and happy squeals. Daddy gets her laughing here in the bumbo! Best.sound.ever. :)

Baby Pink Eye and 1st Cold

2011-09-25T08:13:00.000-04:00

My poor baby got an eye infection last week! She apparently has a clogged tear duct (which my dad noticed right away, being such a good eye doctor), which led to the eye getting infected. We had to go to the pediatrician and get antibiotic eye drops for her. Luckily it cleared up right away, though I did have to take the day off of work because daycare wouldn't let her come in until she had been on antibiotics for 24 hours.

Here she is on our "day off"- you can kind of see that her right eye is a little pink and watery. It actually looks better here- she had woken up that morning with her whole eye crusted with goop.

Luckily she didn't seem too affected by it- we had lots of good cuddle and play time.

And then, I'm not sure if it's related to the eye or not, but she got a cold- which Kevin and I both then also got (Kevin seems to have a worse case of it though). So our house has been full of sniffles and coughs this week. Lovely! With a baby in daycare, I suppose we should get used to it!

Dining Review: Bluegrass Tavern

2011-09-21T06:47:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since I've done one of these!

For our 5th wedding anniversary, Kevin and I headed out to Bluegrass Tavern in Federal Hill, only a few blocks from our house. It was a lovely experience! I wish I could say I took more pictures of the food, but I only got a shot of the delicious cornbread (for only $1- this was a real steal!). The cornbread was crispy on the corners and sweet and yummy. I would definitely get it again.

We also ordered the smoked fried chicken, served with mashed potatoes, mustard greens, and pork demi glace ($17). The skin was very crispy with good seasoning, and I enjoyed it, although I don't think I'd regularly spend $17 on fried chicken.

We also tried the Snake River Farms Kobe sirloin ($31), with baked potato gallontine, broccoli and cheddar, and syrah reduction (can I mention that their menu was like a vocabulary test- so many things I had never ever heard of. Like "cockles", "surryano", "qallat daqqa rub", and "shaved grana". Bonus points to you if you know what these are!). Anyway, the sirloin was wonderful- so tender. I'm not a huge steak eater and I thought it was really delicious. The sides were good too.

There were other things I would have liked to try, like the house made charcuterie and farmstead cheeses, which all sounded awesome! And they have a great cocktail list, though I opted for a glass of shiraz (they were very generous with their portion).

Service was great- fast, efficient, and friendly. And the setting was nice too- they have open area seating so we got to enjoy the wonderful evening air within the comfort of the restaurant.

Overall, I would go back! It's on the upper end of what we usually spend on going out to dinner so it would probably only be an occasional place. But I recommend it!

Also, afterwards we went on a little walk to enjoy the evening (since we had a babysitter and all)- here are some dusky shots of Baltimore from Federal Hill:

A new Nora video

2011-09-16T07:34:00.000-04:00

Just for Friday. :) It's short, but it shows how good she's getting at tummy time (I have her on a poofy pillow here, that's why it looks like she's about to fall over).

And baby jean shorts? So cute!

Grand Prix and St. Michaels

2011-09-14T06:55:00.000-04:00

Over Labor Day weekend, Kevin headed out to a wedding in Colorado, while my parents came to Baltimore to see Nora (I decided it would be too hectic to fly to Colorado for 2 days with a 3-month old).

Unfortunately, our original plans to hang out in Baltimore that weekend were foiled by the Grand Prix. Big loud cars and a shutdown downtown with no parking did not sound like much fun to us (but we did walk down and see some of the action near the Inner Harbor on Friday night):

My parents walking the baby (whoops, managed to get a random dude in the background):

So the next day we escaped the hustle and bustle of the Grand Prix and headed to the Eastern Shore- namely, St. Michaels, Maryland. We even got to stay at the place where "Wedding Crashers" was filmed- The Inn at Perry Cabin. I thought the hotel was lovely. Our room was great and there was plenty of space for my parents and Nora and me (it was two floors). This was our view:

We visited the ship museum, sat along the waterfront and ate local snacks while I nursed, walked around the adorable main street area, and swam in the pool. It was a nice break from the city! Nora loved spending time with her grandparents. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Five years ago today...

2011-09-09T06:20:00.000-04:00

... I married a man who could make me laugh like no one else, and who has always believed in me. I don't regret that decision for one second. My life is deeper, my happiness is truer, my heart is fuller, because of him.

I love you Kevin! Happy anniversary!

Fancy Pants & Saturday Morning

2011-09-07T17:48:00.000-04:00

I love all the cute little clothes Nora has, from various friends and family. Look at the ruffle butt on this one!

Here's the same back as she practices tummy time on a pillow:

Teehee, I love it! This particular morning she was the only one dressed up- I was still in my pj's:

Kevin was trying to study psychiatry (his current rotation) but Nora is a bit distracting. :)

Nora: Month Three

2011-09-02T05:45:00.005-04:00

Dear Nora-

Three months! I remember thinking when you were born that three months old seemed pretty far away, but here we are. This month has really been a delight. Your fussiness has died down a lot (though you still have your moments, as any baby does). And you've started to realize there's a whole exciting world to explore.

It was a big month for you. Your first plane trip (to Maine), your first day at daycare (we survived!), your first earthquake (you slept through it), your first hurricane (Irene), and your first laughs (we think. They're kind of like "heh heh heh").

Sleeping: We have been so blessed in the sleep department. You extended your sleep this month by about an hour, so now most nights you are sleeping from 10:30pm to 5:30am- 7 hours! Followed by another two hour nap after that. This may partly be because you don't nap great during the day (daycare thinks you're quite the cat-napper with most naps only lasting half an hour or so), but I'll take it! Now if only I didn't wake up quite so often to check the video monitor (I just want to make sure you're okay). We still swaddle you, but you've started to break out more and more, so I think we might have to break that habit pretty soon- pretty sure there's going to be a big adjustment period for that! We're thinking of doing the swaddle-breaking and the crib transition all at once, maybe this coming month (you're still sleeping in the Rock n'Play sleeper in your room).

Eating: Breastfeeding has continued to go fairly well, though I've become immersed in the world of pumping at work. It's fine, but not my favorite thing, and my supply isn't great so I have to do it a lot to get enough to feed you. So far I've had some interesting stories to go with it- like I was pumping when the earthquake happened (ha! I totally ended up standing outside in just my nursing tank because I forgot to put my real shirt back on in the evacuation hustle). And then like the next day the janitor walked in on me- talk about awkward. But overall, I'm thrilled that you made it to three months on breastmilk, which was my first big goal. I'm hoping to make it to six months, but it's likely some supplementing with formula will occur because even with fenugreek and other techniques, I'm barely producing enough, but I've mostly come to terms with this and I'll be happy with whatever breastmilk I can provide for you.

Weight: I don't know for sure, but I estimate it to be ~10.5 lbs or so based on your rate of growth before. You're definitely still a little peanut for your age (I tell you that good things come in small packages).

Diaper Size: Perfectly fitting the size 1 diapers now.

Clothes Size: Perfectly fitting 0-3 months right now. I had to put away your newborn clothes but 3-6 months would be huge on you.

Milestones/Firsts: You've discovered the wide range of noises you can make- including a bit of shrieking, which we hope you decide isn't that fun after all. So many new sounds! The funniest story: your dad and I were talking to you about desserts for some reason, saying "Does Nora want... ice cream? Does Nora want... a cookie?" and then suddenly we both swear you said "Coo. Kie". I'm not even joking! Haha, obviously it was just coincidental sounds you made but we both just looked at each other and were like "Did she really just say cookie??"

We believe you've started to laugh/giggle just in the last few days, a cute little "heh heh" during your smile sessions when we're doing something particularly silly to get you to smile. I'm looking forward to more of these in the future, it's so cute!

You've started to like toys more, like this light-up Baby Einstein toy, which seems to completely mesmerize you. Also, you think your feet are just about the coolest things you've ever seen, though you haven't figured out how to grab them yet. You just stare at them in amazement.

Your head control is great so we've started to use the bumbo (the pink chair up above) and you really like being upright and looking around. When you're flat on your tummy, you can lift your head up to a 45 degree angle (but you're not so much a fan of this).

Likes/Dislikes: This month you decided you really don't like the car. Pretty much I can only count on two minutes of silence before the screams begin in the car, even when we're moving now. I'm just glad daycare is so close! You're actually not much a fan of the carseat in general, and even during walks now (which used to be our go-to method for calming you), you start to cry after awhile. I'm hoping this is a stage you'll grow out of. :) You really like when people talk directly to you, especially Daddy. You just light up when he says hi to you! You have also come around to liking the bath more (yay!) except for the towel-drying part.

It was hard to transition from maternity leave to work (I miss you so much during the day!), but honestly now it's starting to feel good to be back doing work that I love, and you seem to be doing okay at daycare (you really like your teachers, though they've told me you want to be carried all day long and you cry if they put you down). I'm hoping it continues to go okay, and you get more used to being able to entertain yourself sometimes, because I really just want to see you happy, and continuing to learn and grow. I can't wait for all the learning and growing we have to look forward to!

Ice Cream Sandwiches

2011-08-26T17:06:00.001-04:00

Oh hai.

I might have eaten a few of these this week. It's one of my favorite at-home desserts. You buy some of the pre-made cookie dough, pop them in the oven, cool, then sandwich some ice cream (cookies and cream in this case) in between (I should really have Kevin describe this as he's the one who usually makes them and he probably has some tips). Yeah, you could get fancy with homemade cookies and homemade ice cream, but it tastes pretty dreamy just like this.

(Edit by Kevin) These are very easy, just a few tips if you decide to make them. First, you should underbake the cookies by 4-5 minutes. I then let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then put the entire sheet in the freezer until they're solid. When I'm ready to make the sandwiches, I take the ice cream out to let it soften for awhile, then assemble the sandwiches and put them back in the freezer. Enjoy!

Saturday in the Park

2011-08-24T06:17:00.000-04:00

The weather this August in Baltimore hasn't been too bad! Which means on the weekends we try to get outside. This particular weekend we did a picnic on both Saturday and Sunday at Fort McHenry. It's an easy location to get to from our house and a good spot to bring the baby! There are lots of shady trees and we just bring our folding chairs and our lunches.

This day Nora was all about the Koala-bear hold :). Made it easy though because she slept through most of lunch!

Oh, and I got a haircut!

Back to Work

2011-08-21T11:11:00.000-04:00

This last week, I made my return to work. I actually really really like my job and in many ways I was excited to get back to some of the projects that I left back in May. It was definitely good to see everyone again.

It was harder to leave Nora than I anticipated though. It's weird, the first couple of weeks as a mom when I was exhausted and the baby was screaming, I had moments where I just felt like I missed my job so much. I missed my old routine! But now, it's really hard to leave her for 10 hours of the day after being (often literally) attached to her for the last 2.5 months. In some ways it almost feels chemical/biological, like I can't control the feelings of wanting to stay attached. Which I guess makes sense. I just don't get quite the happy oxytocin rush with the plastic pump as I do with my baby. :)

On the other hand, I don't think at this point in my life I would like staying at home full-time either. I'm at a happy point in my career with lots of opportunities. I worked a long time to get to this point. And my job and co-workers have been so great- supportive and offering a more flexible schedule for me. My work is interesting and rewarding to me, for the most part.

Daycare for Nora starts on Monday. There are many things about daycare that I hate- exposure to germs, the insane expense, being away for so long from her, missing her day-to-day changes, etc. But I'm trying to focus on the benefits- she's getting better socialized, learning to self-soothe, has people who are trained to interact and educate young infants with her every day (compared to me, who still has trouble remembering the words to "Itsy Bitsy Spider"). I'm trying to focus on enjoying every moment I do have with her rather than regretting every moment I don't. But it is hard. Because you know that you can't do everything, be everything, as much as you want it.

Happy Birthday to Me, and Nora video

2011-08-18T16:48:00.003-04:00

Today is my 31st birthday. I'm feeling very happy and blessed in my life right now!

My sister has been requesting some Nora video for awhile, so here is one- Nora waking up. We love the faces she makes. Look for a smile around 0:52-0:57. :)

Marvelous Maine

2011-08-14T16:25:00.003-04:00

We had a wonderful trip to Maine! It's only an hour flight or so, which was perfect practice for Nora's first time on a plane. I nursed on takeoff and landing (well, I pretty much nursed the whole flight because it was so short) and that seemed to work well. It wasn't too bad with Kevin's help- I'm a little worried about a future trip by myself with Nora just because there's so much stuff to bring, and the flight will be longer.

But Maine- it was so great to get out of the heat of Baltimore summers and head somewhere with cool breezes and (mostly) sunny days. We went here last year as well because Kevin's parents spend their summers there. We stay in this cute little boathouse:

This year I had to spend a lot of time nursing the baby but it wasn't so bad when the views are so pretty and there are so many family members to visit with.

Kevin's relatives from Vermont, including 3 of Nora's great-grandparents, were all there and it was wonderful to spend time with them. We got lots of family photos:

Four generations!

Our nephew is now about 14 months old- he's almost exactly a year older than Nora, and it was so much fun to see what we could expect a year from now! Hopefully next year the cousins will be able to play together more.

We got lots of pictures of the great-grandparents!

And then the whole group that was there:

Since we had so many built-in babysitters :), Kevin and I also had some time to enjoy the outdoors- including several nice rowboat trips around the harbor area. Also we took Nora on a lot of walks. It was funny though- I don't think she liked the peace and quiet of Maine, because she started crying on every walk. So we brought along our white noise app on our phone that sounds like a vacuum cleaner. I think we got a few strange looks as people passed us!

End of Summer

2011-08-09T16:14:00.002-04:00

Sorry that I haven't posted in a week, but we've been here:

Maine! We had a wonderful time taking Nora on her first trip to see her grandparents, 3 great-grandparents, aunt/uncle/cousin, and other relatives (Kevin's aunt and cousins). It was very relaxing and I'm so glad we had the chance to go up there before the summer ends and things get busy again. Work starts on Monday for me so this week is all about getting ready- various dentist's appointments, car maintenance, etc. I'll try to post more about our trip soon!

Nora: Month Two

2011-08-02T07:37:00.003-04:00

Dear Nora,

Today you are two months old. You seem so much bigger to me already! I love looking at you, at all your different facial expressions. This month you started smiling and I just love when your face lights up! We're still working on getting a good video of you smiling- we have a couple where you make almost-smiles. Hopefully I can post one on the blog soon!

Let's be honest though- it was kind of a fussy month for you. You're generally happy for the first 10-15 minutes after eating, and after that, you're either crying or asleep (if we can manage it) until the next feeding. You were diagnosed with reflux and so you've been on some Zantac for that, which seems to help a bit, but your digestive system still seems to make you distraught. Hopefully as you get bigger, things will get better- we hate seeing you unhappy! (I like this picture below, though, because you look like a gnome I just plucked from the garden!).

Sleeping: You started "sleeping through the night" this month. By that, I mean you generally sleep one 6-hour stretch at night- from about 11pm to 5am. This makes your mom very happy. :) Though I've still been pretty tired this month, I'm also usually able to grab a nap during the day. It's going to hurt a little bit when I go back to work and I don't get the nap! Oh well, I suppose plenty of people go to work on 6 hours of sleep. In terms of your daytime naps, well, you're not very good at those! We can usually get you to go to sleep (usually by laying you on your side or stomach across our lap and then jiggling you on our knee with a pacifier in your mouth)- but *staying* asleep is a whole other ballgame.

Eating: You eat 7-8 times per day, every 2-3 hours. Lately it's been closer to 7 times since you started sleeping longer. Breastfeeding is going well, even though it still takes about 40 minutes to feed you, but I enjoy our time together now more than I did the first month. I love the little noises you make and the way you tuck your legs up under my armpit while feeding.

Weight: At your two-month appointment, you weighed 8 lbs. 13 oz., which is up a little over a pound from 3.5 weeks ago.

Diaper Size: Just finishing up the last package of newborn size, and then you're going up to size 1!

Clothes Size: You can still fit into a few newborn things, but mostly you're starting to wear 0-3 months.

Eye Color: Blue!

Milestones/Firsts: You gave us your first "real" smile during weeks 5-6. Your neck is a lot stronger and you can support yourself on your arms and hold your head up (it still bobs around a bit). You seem more interested in objects than before, though your attention span is pretty short (you mostly like looking at our faces- that holds your attention much more than any toy).

Likes/Dislikes: I think (I hope) you're warming up to the bath. You seem to like the first part where we clean your body with a washcloth- it's the hair washing you're still not a fan of. You like lying on your tummy, but we only let you do that when you're lying on our laps, since you're supposed to sleep on your back. You like the songs I've been singing you (Itsy Bitsy spider, Old MacDonald) and high-pitched voices. You also really like your changing table for some reason- that's the place I get the most smiles from you!

Visitors: Three of my friends from work came up to see you, and Kevin's parents were here to help out as well. It's been so great to see everyone!

This month has been more enjoyable for me in some ways than the first month- though you have fussy days, I feel more capable of dealing with the fussiness than before. Maybe it's more sleep, I'm not sure, but I feel more confident. I'm trying to take in every moment with you, because the end of maternity leave is looming, and I know that pretty soon, these moments will be gone.

Miss Blue Eyes

2011-07-30T08:48:00.002-04:00

Right now, Nora has bright blue eyes. They seem to be a bit lighter than when she was born- they were more grey then. This is pretty typical of most newborns, though.

And yes, this is her Zoolander Blue Steel face:

Her eye color right now is pretty close to her momma's (maybe slightly darker):

I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want them to stay that way- I love my eye color and I hope that she inherits it! (though Kevin's green eyes are nice too).

According to this really cool "baby eye color" website, though, she only has a 30% chance of blue eyes and a 70% chance of having green eyes. We'll see what happens by the time she is one year old or so! Either way, she's beautiful:

Updates

2011-07-26T15:44:00.002-04:00

Life on maternity leave is going well, but way too fast. I have less than 3 weeks before I go back to work! My leave has flown by!

We've had several visitors this month, which has been awesome. First, my in-laws flew back for a week to help out some more, which was great. Then, my friend Jae and her husband stopped by to visit:

Thanks for the photos and the yummy herbs, Jae!

Finally, my friends Michelle and Emily came up to Baltimore and made dinner for us- it was very yummy! I've been trying to avoid dairy products to make Nora feel better/less gassy, and they managed to find a delicious recipe with no milk/cheese/butter, which isn't always easy to do.

Other than that, Nora and I have gotten into a pretty good routine. She started some medicine for reflux and I think it's been helping- she's less fussy, at least right after meals. I've tried to start preparing myself for another huge routine change when work starts in a few weeks. It's hard for me to imagine leaving her with someone else for 10-11 hours a day, even though I know our daycare is high quality and has good reviews. But I mean, how will I not miss this face? (and yes, she has kind of a mohawk going on here).

In other news, Kevin is done with his internal medicine rotation! All in all, I didn't think it was that bad except for his late call nights, which happened 1-2 times per week. At any rate, he now has the next 4 weeks off, which is just awesome. It will be great to have some family bonding time- plus he'll help with my transition back to work, since he'll be home with her the week I go back.

Here she is hanging out with suck monkey! (one of my recommended baby items).

Biscoff = Yum

2011-07-23T09:20:00.000-04:00

One of the Baltimore food blogs I read, A Taste of Baltimore, recently suggested Biscoff spread and I decided I had to try it (thanks Nakiya!). I ordered it from Amazon, and it was a little pricey for two jars, but yeah... it's delicious! It's like gingersnaps or gingerbread in peanut butter form. Those Europeans know what they're doing! I can't wait to try it spread on apples... or toast... or just spoon it out of the jar....

Newborns are funny

2011-07-20T09:10:00.002-04:00

After spending the last 9 months in a tight enclosed space filled with fluid, newborns seem to have a hard time being in wide open airy spaces. Apparently that's why they like being swaddled so much, because then their arms can't just flail around wildly (which Nora's do, making it very hard for her to sleep). So we swaddle her for sleeping, but when we take her out, those arms just immediately go up into the air!

I like this photo because it looks like she's about to break into some great Shakespeare soliloquy:

The above pose is actually called the "fencing reflex" or "tonic neck" reflex- babies will often strike the fencing pose through the fourth month.

And finally, all the limbs are brought close back to the body again (she loves to have her feet in the froggy position and her hands on her ears):

Favorite Baby Items

2011-07-15T18:29:00.003-04:00

Now that Nora has been here 6 weeks (!), I thought I would write a post about my favorite baby items so far, in case any of my readers are having a baby or have a baby and might be interested! Of course, it seems like any baby item is a little subjective to the baby herself. For example, other babies might like swings but Nora- not a fan, at least not so far. She doesn't even like the vibrating bouncer seat.

In no particular order:

1) The Fisher Price Rock n'Play. Really, the reviews on Amazon say it all, but I really love this thing. Nora has slept here since the beginning, and especially because she ended up having reflux and the Rock n'Play has an incline, it's really helped her sleep. I credit it for our pretty long sleeping hours (she just hit the six hours in a row mark, followed by another 2!). Plus it's got sides, so she can't just flail around like in her crib (not sure when we're going to make the transition- the fact that she's eventually going to outgrow the RnP is a major downside- and I should note that she's swaddled, but she's a wiggle worm and rolls around even swaddled in her crib). Here she is in her bed:

Awww:

The one negative: it claims it's an "easy fold" system, so you can fold it up and move it easily- this is a joke! Kevin had me laughing hard one night when he tried to demonstrate how to do it while holding a baby. It requires at least 3 hands in my opinion, because you have to push two buttons on either end and then push the sides together at the same time. But, we don't move it all that often, so it's not a huge problem.

2) The BOB revolution stroller and the Chicco Keyfit 30 infant carseat. Both of these things are awesome, and can be used together with the BOB infant carseat adaptor and a simple tweak that I found in the first amazon.com review of the adaptor. The stroller is made so well and is really built to last. Nora should be able to ride in it for quite awhile! It does great over all the cracks and bumps in the Baltimore sidewalks, and has great shocks. Nora loves walks!! The carseat and base are so easy to use and get in and out of the car. When we went to get it installed the carseat lady was like, okay good, you have my favorite carseat! And I figure she would know. So far, I have to agree with her.

3) A video monitor. I wasn't sure I needed the video component in our tiny house, but I'm so glad we got one. It's been invaluable to be able to see her after I put her in the Rock n'Play and leave her for her nap/bedtime. We have the Levana video monitor- I'm not necessarily attached to this particular brand but it's worked great so far, and can be used like an intercom system. It also plays music but we haven't used that feature too much. The video quality is quite good and I haven't had any problems with interference from other wireless devices.

4) My brest friend pillow. Okay, I know the name is silly. But this pillow is great, and has been a huge help with breastfeeding. I still get kind of a sore back so I wish the pillow was a little thicker so the baby was raised higher- I stick another pillow underneath to raise her head up, but I still have to lean over a little. Still, I use it like, a dozen times a day. It definitely beats regular pillows, which I've also tried.

5) Happiest Baby on the Block book. We've used these techniques countless times already. Kevin's the real master, but I try hard. Nora is pretty fussy in the afternoons/evenings and it's nice to have ways to soothe her. I'm not sure the book is necessary- I hear the DVD is better.

6) A variety of swaddles. I've tried several and all have different uses. Nora is swaddled in the Miracle blanket in the picture above. This is pretty lightweight and I like to use it during the daytime because it's easy to use. The only negative is that she can get her legs out pretty easily. At night I do the "escape proof swaddle" from YouTube, which rocks!! I do it using a receiving blanket and our nice Aden + Anais muslin blankets (which also have a number of other uses, such as creating a sun shade over the stroller while still allowing airflow underneath). I've also tried the Halo sleepsack swaddle, but only with limited success- she can get out of the velcro pretty easily.

7) A wubbanub. What is a wubbanub, you ask? It's basically a stuffed toy attached to a Soothie pacifier. We of course have the monkey. Kevin calls it "suck monkey" which is a little disturbing but somehow we are all now calling it suck monkey. "Where is suck monkey??? I need suck monkey!" is commonly heard around the house nowadays. It's great because it gives the baby something to hold onto. Plus, it's cute. It does make it a little harder to clean though.

Other nice things to have: Soft waterproof changing cloths- I put these on the changing pad and cover to have an extra layer of protection (even with it on there, I have to change the changing pad cover a few times a week, but at least it offers one more layer!). Burp cloths aka Gerber cloth diapers (I'm not sure how anyone would actually use these as diapers, but they are large and absorbent and work awesome as burp cloths). The Ergo- I think this will become more and more useful as Nora gets a little older- right now we use it with the Infant Insert and if she's in the right mood, it puts her right to sleep. Some kind of white noise machine, like the Sleep Giraffe that we have (although I wish this giraffe played longer than 45 minutes). A playmat, like this Tiny Love one that my sister got us, where Nora does tummy time:

So there you have it! All my current favorite baby items, though I'm sure the list will change as she gets older!

**I'm not in any way paid or reimbursed to advertise these items, they are all just products I love!**

Daddy Daughter Love

2011-07-11T09:39:00.002-04:00

One of the greatest joys of being a parent thus far is watching the relationship form between Nora and Kevin. Kevin has been such a great father so far- he's wonderful at soothing her, doesn't mind diaper changes, and adores every cute little face and movement she does as much as I do!

Also, they are a lot alike already. Case in point (one of my new all-time favorite photos- and no, this wasn't staged, I actually found them like this):

Makes my heart melt. :)

Nora: One Month

2011-07-06T18:53:00.000-04:00

Dear Nora,

I can't believe it's been a month! Since you were born, it's all been one long emotional, sleep-deprived blur, and sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself to make sure I haven't dreamed the whole thing. Sometimes I look at you, so perfect and uniquely you, and I can't believe how blessed we are to have you here.

Sleeping: You sleep a lot as a newborn! You've slowly started to stay awake longer during the day, but you still sleep a lot at nearly 5 weeks old. The most sleep I've gotten occurred just recently, when you had two stretches of sleep at night- from about 11:30pm (after feeding) to ~3:00am, and then from ~4:00am (after feeding) to 6:30am, which gave me about 6 hours of sleep- really not too shabby for your age, from what I've read. Usually I get somewhere from 4-5 hours of sleep. I wish it was continuous sleep but I'll take what I can get! I try to take an hour nap during the day too, but it doesn't always happen when I'm by myself. During the day you take frequent naps but they are shorter. It's harder for you to sleep in the afternoons and evenings, when you get a little fussier and it seems like every little motion wakes you up.

Eating: You're on a 2.5-3 hour routine during the day, and you're a good eater. You currently eat 8 times a day (I'm hoping to reduce that to 7 times pretty soon...). I love how excited you get when you know food is near ;); the way your little hands grip my fingers as you feed; and the way you arch your back and look totally content with milk all over your mouth when you're done. You have some tummy troubles and a little reflux, so we have to be careful to keep you upright when possible. The gas relief medicine doesn't seem to do much in my opinion, but gripe water so far works great to soothe tummy troubles! It makes your hiccups just disappear. I've been pumping milk to build up a stash for when I return to work, as well.

Weight: At your one month appt,you weighed 7 lbs. 11oz. Up from 6lbs. 12 oz three weeks ago. The doctor seemed pleased with your weight gain, though you're still a little peanut! I've certainly noticed your little baby thighs and arms getting more fat on them- it's cute!

Diaper Size: Newborn, but I think in a few weeks you might reach size 1.

Clothes Size: Newborn with a few items you can wear in 0-3 months. Some of the clothes are huge on you but I put them on anyway because they're so cute. And I try to remember to put hats and bows on you!

Eye Color: They were dark blue at birth and I think they've lightened a little, but I'm not sure they'll stay blue- I would love if they did, though, since my eyes are blue!

Milestones/Firsts: We've done a good amount of tummy time this month, and I think your neck muscles have gotten a lot stronger- you can now hold your head up for awhile at a 45 degree angle, and rotate it from one side to the other while flat on your stomach. You're very observant and can follow objects 180 degrees from one side to the other. You smile, but only "practice"/gas smiles, though I think you're really close to an actual smile! You had a lot of firsts this month: first ride in the stroller, first trip in the car, first bath (not so much a fan the first time, but I think they're growing on you!).

Likes/Dislikes: You like the stroller and sometimes the car, as long as things are moving. If we hit traffic or the stroller stops, all bets are off. And you're not a big fan of getting into the carseat. You tolerate tummy time pretty well. Bath time is hit or miss. Sometimes you seem to really relax- other times, you scream bloody murder!!

Visitors: You had many people visit you your first month. My parents, then your Aunt and Uncle, and most recently, Kevin's parents (see picture below). We really have appreciated all the wonderful help! We also had a visit from one of my friends, Michelle. You have so many people who love you already!

In many ways, having a newborn has been much harder than I anticipated. I knew that there would not be much sleep- I didn't realize how much the lack of sleep would completely drain me. I have never been so tired in my life- and you're a pretty good sleeper, I think! I also didn't realize how hard it would be at first with breastfeeding- not only the difficulties associated with getting the latch correct and all the many (painful) issues that can arise, but also with the constancy and monotony of feeding every 3 hours all day long (particularly when each feeding can last up to an hour). I often feel like I do nothing else all day but breastfeed and then try to get you to sleep- which often doesn't happen until right before I have to feed you again! It can be a frustrating and exhausting cycle. You also can get very fussy in the afternoons because of all your tummy issues. It makes me feel bad when I can't fix the problem. :(

But if the past month has been filled with frustrations and sometimes tears, it's also been filled with pure joy and happiness- at seeing ourselves in you, at watching your innocent wonder at the world, at supporting each other in becoming parents for the first time, and at becoming a brand new family. Of this I'm sure- every difficult moment has been worth it!

Happy Fourth of July!

2011-07-04T17:10:00.003-04:00

Nora is very excited to wish everyone a happy Independence Day!

Whew! All that excitement can get a little tiring....

But a fist in the mouth and a hand on the ear makes it all better....

Hope you all have a great holiday! Kevin and I are keeping it very low key, but we are going to try to watch the fireworks show over the harbor from our deck tonight (maybe with a glass of port?). Nora will not be watching with us (unless she can't sleep). Happy 4th!

My Auntie is my BFF

2011-06-28T08:36:00.003-04:00

Last week, my sister and her husband came to visit us. It's great to see them- we haven't seen them since we visited Taiwan! They are in the States for the summer and touring all over to see friends and family. They were super excited to meet Nora and take on their roles as Aunt and Uncle! They got Nora several cute outfits, including one that says "My Auntie is my BFF"- in two sizes, so that she'll be able to share the sentiment for longer than just 3 months. :)

It was great to have them- Uncle Myron cooked up a storm for us, and Auntie Erin was great at calming the baby down with her emotive voice (she is a speech teacher, after all). We went on lots of walks and watched movies and held the baby- it was a fun but chill week! I need to get the pictures that they took (hint hint, Erin) but here are one or two I remembered to capture.

Walking to the Inner Harbor Barnes and Noble:

Me and my sister:

Just a cute picture of Nora:

Trying out the Ergo baby carrier:

Study time with Daddy (she seems to really calm down when he swaddles her all up and jiggles her on his knee):

The Many Faces of Nora

2011-06-26T06:22:00.000-04:00

We have the cutest baby in the world. Like most newborns, Nora spends a lot of time in a semi-asleep state, during which her face changes expression every 3 seconds- smile, frown, pout, grin, grimace- which probably serves some purpose, like developing facial muscles, or perhaps just charms the pants off doting parents. On the somewhat more rare occasion when she's actually awake and making faces, it's even cuter, so I thought I share (oh maybe just one or two or ten) photos of her adorable expressions at 3 weeks old (outfit was a gift from Auntie Erin and Uncle Myron!).

This one? Kills me.

You have to love the baby yawn:

I didn't take a picture of the crying baby face, because I see that one a little too often lately in the evenings. ;) Luckily she's a happy baby the rest of the day.

Parental Visit

2011-06-21T08:16:00.003-04:00

Wow, the last 2.5 weeks have flown by. My mom was here for almost 2 weeks, and my dad came out for 5 days in there too, and it was great to have them! They are first-time grandparents so they were super excited to meet Nora.

It was very helpful to have them here. Just so I could actually nap and get some things done during the day! Not to mention how great it is to have someone cooking or providing food for you every day. :) It's amazing how much time breastfeeding takes up. It's hard to get anything done! So we were mostly just at our house. We went on some walks, though, once my incision was feeling better!

We also ventured out to the Baltimore HonFest- but it was super muggy, so we didn't stay all that long. Still, it was interesting people-watching!

And, I finally tried this Baltimorean concoction- a lemon with a peppermint stick in it. Kind of strange.... (the guy behind me is totally loving our baby though).

Mostly, though, we spent a lot of time adoring this little one!

Bili Baby

2011-06-15T17:07:00.000-04:00

One thing I wasn't aware of before actually trying to breastfeed is that your milk doesn't come in right away. You have something called colostrum which is supposed to sustain the baby until the milk arrives- but as in my case, it could take 4-5 days.

Poor little Nora started getting dehydrated from lack of milk in the hospital, and on our third day there I started getting really worried that I was basically starving her. Plus she was getting a distinctly yellow hue, a clear sign of jaundice, which is common in babies but can get worse from lack of fluid/nutrition.

Here's she is, still cute as a button but looking quite yellow:

So much to my dismay, she had to first be supplemented with formula, which I worried would forever mess up her breastfeeding abilities (it hasn't seemed to so far, but it did make for a bit of a rough start)- but worse, she had to spend almost 24 hours under these bilirubin UV lights. Here's our little space monkey:

I seriously felt so bad for her- she hated those goggles so much! And I was totally paranoid that she would pull them down over her nose and mouth (I actually saw her do it like twice). So much so that I eventually had them take her to the nursery to be watched, because I couldn't sleep, I was just constantly adjusting her little goggles.

Anyway, we made it through- the next day her levels were back down and we were discharged from the hospital- thank goodness! And as of today, at almost 2 weeks old, she's surpassed her birth weight, so I feel better knowing that she's eating well.

Pregnancy Evolution

2011-06-14T08:55:00.000-04:00

I took a photo of my belly every week or every other week throughout my pregnancy- it's crazy how much I grew! I really was pretty huge at the end. :) (Please refer to the API for specifics).

Sadly my stomach does not currently look like it did at 7 weeks- maybe more like 19 or 20 weeks. But the swelling is slowly going down and hopefully with some exercise things will eventually get back to normal. Overall I'm happy with the amount of weight I gained during pregnancy (30 lbs). I'm currently up about 11 lbs which isn't too bad. I'm hoping breastfeeding will help with the weight loss, too.

Nora's Birth Story

2011-06-07T21:49:00.007-04:00

For those who care about the gritty details....

At my 39 week appointment, the doctor did a procedure called "membrane stripping" where basically they loosen the amniotic sac from the cervix as a way to sort of help labor to begin (it doesn't always work- maybe 50% of the time). I had decided to try it as I was starting to get tired of pregnancy and I wanted to meet the little one! Plus I really wanted her here before all our visitors started arriving.

So I went to my appointment at noon, and by 5pm I had started cramping. By 7:30pm, I was having timeable contractions that were about 5 minutes apart and 1 minute long. I was pretty excited and kind of wanted to go to the hospital right away, but Kevin tried to get me to calm down because we didn't want to get there too early lest they turn us away. So we baked peanut butter oatmeal cookies. :) At midnight the contractions were getting more painful, so we decided to head in, and packed up all our bags.

At the hospital, I was 3 cm dilated, but they wanted to continue to monitor the contractions for another hour and a half before we were admitted. At this point the contractions were getting quite painful so Kevin was helping me breathe through them, but I was also feeling pretty nauseous- and ended up throwing up in the waiting room trash basket. :) Whoops.

Around 3 am on June 2nd we were admitted to labor and delivery. I really wanted to labor naturally until I was 5cm dilated because I had read that there was less chance of having to get pitocin and other medical involvement after that point. So I refused drugs for awhile and things got pretty excruciating, with strong contractions every 2-3 minutes. What's worse is that by 7am or so there was no real change- I was still 3-4 cm dilated. I had also continued to throw up until there was basically nothing left in my stomach. Kevin was a great labor coach and helped me work through all the pain, got me ice cubes to suck on, etc.

Yes, I'm sharing this picture with the world, just to show how wonderful I was feeling:

At 8:30am they said I was still 4 cm, but I couldn't take it anymore and asked for the epidural. I still feel pretty good that I labored naturally for over 12 hours. But boy, when they put that epidural in, it was some sweet sweet relief. I would definitely get one again in the future. You could still feel pressure but the pain from the contractions was totally gone- I could finally relax a little.

After that time went pretty fast for me, as I was kind of exhausted and was mostly just trying to relax and sleep a little. There were lots of nurses in and out, and Kevin was updating our families via Skype. Around 11am, they announced they were going to break my water to help move things along. I guess it worked (again, I was in sweet epidural heaven) because by around 2pm I was finally 8cm dilated and getting close to pushing.

Unfortunately, around this time, the baby's heart rate kept dramatically decreasing during contractions, and then rapidly accelerate afterwards. Some of this is normal during the final stages of labor, but her heartrate started staying low for longer periods of time, though we tried changing positions (lying on different sides, etc). My doctor came in and said that she thought it best to do a c-section- I wasn't getting to 10cm fast enough (where you need to be to push) and the baby was in too much distress.

I have to admit, I was very disappointed at this news- after all, I had already been laboring for close to 19 hours, and everything so far had gone pretty much according to my desired plan- I hadn't needed to take any additional IV drugs, which I wanted to avoid, and I had avoided needing pitocin to speed up contractions. And now at the very last minute to be told I needed a c-section- I felt sad. But, when the doctor tells you you need to do something for the health of your baby, well, you're going to do it. So we went ahead.

At ~ 2:30 pm on June 2nd, Miss Nora was brought into the world. The surgery was fine- you can feel pulling and tugging but not much else. Actually the worst part of the whole thing is that the drugs that gave me for the spinal had some strange effect where they made my whole body just shake. I don't think I was particularly cold, but I was shaking like a leaf during the surgery and for a good two hours afterwards- and the shaking meant all the muscles in my back and neck were completely clenched. It really hurt- I tried to have Kevin massage them but the pain was pretty bad. After Nora was born (scoring 9's on her APGARs), they showed her to me and Kevin took some pictures- I cried when I heard her cry- nice and healthy. I had to go to the recovery room for two hours while she went to the nursery. That was hard too!

Finally, though, we got moved to the recovery floor, and Nora was brought to room-in with us for the next 4 days as I recovered from the surgery, and we got a chance to bond as a new family:

My little brother sent us flowers:

It's a surreal thing, to have something sort of abstract inside you for 9 months and to finally meet a real baby with her own personality. What an amazing experience!

She's Here!!

2011-06-05T14:45:00.002-04:00

Birth story to follow soon (well, I hope pretty soon)- but we're so happy to welcome our daughter Nora to the world! She was born June 2nd, at 2:30pm, after 19 hours of labor resulting in c-section. :) It was a long day, but she's all worth it! We love her so much already!

Baby Update: 38 weeks & the API

2011-05-26T20:42:00.003-04:00

I'm torn between wanting the baby here RIGHT NOW or thinking maybe it would be good if she came 2 weeks from now. One thing is for sure, I don't really want her to show up really late, so that probably means she'll show up in 4 weeks. :) Kevin was hoping she might show up yesterday or today, as he's on the last few days of an easier rotation and would have had more time with the 3-day weekend coming up. Tuesday he starts his 8-week internal medicine rotation, which will probably be a bit stressful. But I don't think the baby cares too much about schedules. ;)

I'm working from home now, which is great because I can sit on the couch with my feet elevated. And not having to drive is fantastic. This week has been good, too, because I got a paper accepted and another one came back with just minor revisions, which I already submitted, which leaves me feeling better about being gone for a couple of months. I did get asked to do a paper review, which I agreed to do- hoping I can knock that out tomorrow and send it in early next week.

One thing I miss about work is my lunch group, who, being scientists, decided that they needed to keep measurements of my belly as it's grown over the months (starting back in December or so, at about 14 weeks pregnant). We decided to call this measurement the "API"- the Amy Pregnancy Index. I'm going to keep measuring as long as this baby is in there, but I decided I should present it to my blog readers tonight so if the baby comes, I won't run out of time to show it. The measurements are in centimeters and I'm pretty sure the time series correlates with rising gas prices. Make of THAT what you will!

Edited to add: you might have to click through to the post to see the graph. For some reason it doesn't seem to show up in my RSS reader.

Getting Ready

2011-05-22T19:47:00.002-04:00

The car seats are installed. The diapers and the wipes and the tiny nail clippers and baby shampoo are bought. The batteries in the swing/bouncer are installed. The nursery is finally put together- just need to do some last-minute decorating. I'm not commuting to work anymore- and the hospital is only 10 minutes away from our house, maybe less (I'll be working from home for the next few weeks, thanks to the generosity of my workplace). Everything is ready for our little girl to make her appearance, anytime from right now (unlikely) to about 4 weeks from now (at which point, they would induce).

As we approach the time of meeting this little person who will undoubtedly change our lives, and while I wait for the signs that her appearance is imminent, I'm left with a lot of time to reflect- mostly on how fast 9 months really goes. Sometimes it all seems like a dream- seeing the first "positive" on the pregnancy test (out of like 14 that I later took to confirm)- her little heartbeat flickering on the green-black screen of the ultrasound at 7 weeks- finding out we are having a girl- being showered with so many wonderful gifts but mostly feeling very grateful for all the love and friendship in our lives.

I'm really kind of terrified of being a mother and all the responsibility that comes with raising a child, not to mention the whole birth process, but I'm grateful for the support of the loved ones around me, and I know with their help I hopefully won't go astray (at least too often). And I know in Kevin I have the greatest support and partnership I could ask for- he will make a fantastic dad.

Though pregnancy is starting to wear me out, it's been an amazing ride- I'm so thankful that (at least up to this point) it's been healthy and manageable. I'm so happy to have made it to full-term. It's bittersweet in some ways for my "inside" baby- who thus far has only been connected to the world through me, as if we share some secret or truth only between the two of us- will soon belong to the world. But I think of all the experiences she has ahead of her, and I'm so excited for her life in this world to begin.

Woodberry Kitchen: Take 2

2011-05-18T22:01:00.003-04:00

Woodberry Kitchen is our favorite restaurant in Baltimore- we've been maybe four times now, and it's fantastic every time. I wrote about one experience in this review.

We went back a few weeks ago to celebrate Kevin being done with the board exam. We did our normal routine of focusing on appetizers, small plates, and the wood-fired pizza- everything was wonderful! To be honest, I can't remember all the details now, but here are some pictures to show you how delicious everything was:

One small plate we had was these smoked, spiced pecans- flavorful and delicious!

Woodberry likes to use local and seasonal produce, so we tried a beet green salad- this was good but probably my least favorite dish (though definitely the most healthy!). The flavor was great but the greens were a bit chewy.

We counterbalanced it with something particularly unhealthy but truly delicious, a potato au gratin (soo good- super hot and creamy):

We then ordered two flatbreads- cooked in a woodfire, Woodberry truly excels at these little guys!

First, we got a white pizza with asiago, goat's cheese, cheddar, oregano, and honey (that honey is key! Such a great addition of sweet to the salty cheese!):

And then we also tried a spicy sausage pizza with pickled peppers- quite the pop of spice and just a great combination of flavors!

If you go to Woodberry, you can't leave without having one of their desserts. It's hard to choose but we pretty much always have to order the CMP- chocolate, marshmallow, and peanut (put in a glass with malt ice cream, and then carefully covered with a hard sugar top that you break into with a spoon). Hard to capture this delightfulness in a picture, but here's my attempt:

We love going here and take pretty much all our out-of-town visitors, although you have to make reservations way in advance so that's put a cramp in our plans a few times. If you live in the area, I would highly recommend you try it out! We love it!

Baby Update: 36 weeks

2011-05-13T21:14:00.002-04:00

I'm a little late on this post because blogger was down last night. But here I am, at 36 weeks! Getting excited to meet this baby!

In one more week, baby will technically be "full term"- yay! Also in one more week- I'll be done with commuting to work until the middle of August! The drive is really starting to get to me so it will be great to work from home until baby arrives. I just hope she doesn't decide next week would be a good time to show up. :) I've been trying to wrap up all my major projects at work to at least a good holding point, but inevitably, there will be some things left hanging. I'm sure it will be a little overwhelming when I return.

Tomorrow we get the car seats installed with The Car Seat Lady. We have the Chicco KeyFit 30 carseat with two bases so we can install one in each car. This feels like a big step because it's the last thing we absolutely have to do before the baby comes!

In unrelated-to-baby news, I have to brag about Kevin a little- he did amazing on the board exam. Thanks everyone for your good thoughts and wishes! I'm so proud of him! He's started rotations now but his first one (Chronic Disease) is quite relaxed, which has been awesome- it's been great to have more time together before life gets crazy.

Sherwood Gardens

2011-05-09T21:30:00.004-04:00

A couple of weekends ago, we found a lovely new spot in Baltimore- Sherwood Gardens. It's funny, just a few blocks south is a bit of a ghetto, and then you head into this neighborhood and it's million dollar homes (it was fun just looking at the beautiful houses!). Baltimore is like that- things change fast from one street to the next.

The spring is when Sherwood Gardens really shines- the park is covered in tulip beds that are adopted every year by different individuals and companies, and each bed is designed anew that year (over 80,000 tulips are planted!). At the end of the spring, you can go and dig up the bulbs on the allotted day, to plant in your own yard.

The weather was lovely, though the grass was a bit soggy, and Kevin humored me by being patient while I took a billion pictures of tulips (don't worry, I'm only showing my favorites here):

This was some kind of fancy tulip with pointed petals. The light here wasn't that great for people pictures- too bright!

Kevin did take a decent one of me though- here I think I was ~33 weeks pregnant. Don't I match the tulips nicely?

I think we'd definitely go back next year- it was fun to see the different tulips and it's a great place for photos!

April Showers

2011-05-04T18:02:00.000-04:00

My co-workers Jae, Lindsey, and Michelle were very nice and threw Kevin and me a baby shower in April. It was a very nasty, windy, rainy day, but it was fun to see everyone outside of work!

I know some of them read this blog so I hope they don't mind if I post some pictures. :)

Mom and Dad to-be:

Here's Mike quizzing Kevin on a Step One Board exam question (he got it right ;) ... and no, this isn't too unusual for a party with a bunch of scientists):

We also played a game where everyone guessed the width of my belly bump using string. It was maybe a little unfair because in the group I normally eat lunch with, we've been measuring every week so they know how many centimeters around I am (more on this in a future post). So Mike figured it out based on that and some good estimation skills.

Here's Jae getting my actual measurement:

Opening gifts:

There was lots of yummy food, and the cutest baby cake ever!

Kevin and me cutting the cake:

Thanks to Jae's husband for taking most of these pictures, and thanks to Jae for hosting! We had a great time, and it was nice for Kevin to actually meet some of the people I work with. :)

Cat Fight!

2011-04-30T15:15:00.002-04:00

For your Saturday enjoyment- a little hairless cat fight. They do this all the time. This video was taken with our new Flip camera!!

Baby Update: 34 weeks

2011-04-28T21:09:00.004-04:00

6 weeks to go! This week, the baby is supposedly anywhere from 4.75 lbs to 5.5 lbs- that's like real baby size! Kind of crazy.

Me contemplating the honeydew melon sized baby in my abdomen (personally, I think you could fit a pretty big melon in there):

I'm generally feeling okay, but let me whine a little bit. Sleep (or lack thereof) in the third trimester is either Mother Nature's brilliant plan to prepare you for lack of sleep once baby arrives, or else it's her evilly ironic scheme to complete exhaust you in the last 3 months that sleep is still possible.

There are several issues to sleeping: (1) heartburn- so I'm propped up with two pillows at the head of the bed and popping Tums and Zantac at all hours of the night; (2) sleep positions- I can only sleep on my sides, requiring several pillows to keep me in this position (sleeping on my back now really does make it hard to breathe); (3) hip/back pain, which is probably because I can only sleep on my side with my upper half tilted upward to prevent heartburn; and (4) a large baby in my stomach that kicks and moves around but also weighs quite a bit, requiring a pillow underneath the stomach to prop it up.

Finally, my poor feet have been swelling like crazy. I keep worried they'll get so full of fluid, they'll explode, but Kevin has assured me that he doesn't think this will happen.

Progress to the nursery: I hope to have some pictures in a couple of weeks, because we actually are getting things done now. Kevin built the crib (yay!); and our beautiful comfortable rocker-glider from Room and Board got delivered (love it!); and it took me lots of cursing and a few trips to the hardware store and several returns to Target, but I finally got the darn curtains hung. This weekend I'm hoping to finally move my desk out of there and get things arranged properly.

In other news: thanks for all your good thoughts on Kevin's exam- we won't find out the score for several weeks, but I think Kevin is happy to be done. He started his first rotation too (in Chronic disease). So far so good....

Sunday Meditation: Mary Oliver

2011-04-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

Messenger
by Mary Oliver

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird —
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.

photo credit

Peanut Butter Snickers Cookies

2011-04-20T21:16:00.002-04:00

Peanut butter? Snickers? Cookies?

Sign me up!

I found this recipe on Brown-Eyed Baker, a wonderful food blog, and knew I needed to try it (her pictures are better than mine- guess I still have much to learn about food photography!).

So. hard. to resist dough. I'm not supposed to eat anything with raw egg while pregnant. I might have snuck a bite anyway. But just one. I'm bad. :(

These cookies were delightful!

Peanut Butter Snickers Cookies

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups chopped Snickers candy bars (about 4 regular size bars)
1 cup milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the milk and the vanilla extract and mix again.

4. Add the flour mixture and beat until flour disappears. Stir in the chopped Snickers and chocolate chips.

5. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-11 minutes, or until cookies are slightly brown on the edges.

6. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for about 5 to 10 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

A New Food Love

2011-04-17T08:47:00.001-04:00

I've been trying to up my protein to combat some of the ankle swelling that's continued over the last few weeks. Honestly, I'm not sure if it's working, since my ankles still look huge (I swear there's a bone in there somewhere), but I did find a wonderful new food product- Cabot Greek-style yogurt!

I actually really love the individual Fage yogurts with honey, but we were trying to find a cheaper option- by buying in larger bulk containers. Kevin has brought several home, and while all were tasty, I really love this one- want to know why? Let's take a look....

Are those... actual vanilla bean specks?

Yes! I love vanilla bean! There's something about seeing the specks that makes it ten times better than regular vanilla. This yogurt is super creamy and high in protein and although I wish it didn't have quite as many calories, I seriously look forward to it all day at work for afternoon snack time. Highly recommend!

Baby Update: 32 weeks

2011-04-14T21:01:00.004-04:00

Why does 32 weeks seem so far along and yet so far away from 40? 8 weeks more seems seriously like forever!

All things considered though- aside from the heartburn and the swollen ankles/cankles, the exhaustion and the back pain, this pregnancy has been going smoothly thus far, and I can't really complain!

This last weekend I got a prenatal massage! It was completely heavenly (thanks Christine and Steve!). No, they didn't have a table with a hole in it for my stomach- it's all done on your sides with lots of pillows and special prenatal massage oil that smells fantastic. Anyway, I'm glad I got to try it out!

I have bi-weekly appts now- luckily they're short and easy to schedule early in the morning. Everything looks good so far- although I personally wish my rate of weight gain would start slowing down already, the doctor said that everything looks fine. Baby should be ~3.75 lbs by now (I have my suspicions that she's slightly heavier).

We've been slowly putting things away from our baby shower (we have a work baby shower this weekend- very excited!), and this means inevitably we want to try some of the items out- here's Kevin with his baby :) :

You can see some of our cute baby items in the closet in the background- not quite organized yet though. At any rate, Karma wasn't having any of it (though surprisingly, I tried it with Bixby and she fell asleep in there!):

Speaking of Kevin, in one week he's taking a very important exam- the Boards (Step One)! He's been studying for the last 5 weeks for like 14 hours a day, I'm not even kidding. He wakes up before I do and goes to sleep after me - so though I know that he's totally going to rock this test, any good test-taking thoughts and juju are appreciated!! Here he is in one of his study spots (the cats like this one):

Baby Shower: The People

2011-04-11T20:01:00.002-04:00

Of course what made my baby shower truly great was all my amazing friends and family that were there. Having such good people in my life makes me feel so grateful!

Now for some photos- thanks to Mom, Dad, Diane, and Aunt Nancy for some of these. Me and the diaper cake first. I don't actually look that pregnant from the front:

...but from the side (this was at 28 weeks):

Me and my parents:

Courtney and Sasha (grad school friends) and Kim (college roomie- she's pregnant with her second!):

The other table (unfortunately Aunt Nancy and Grandmother Erna are on the edges and you can't see them):

My mother-in-law gave out gifts for people who won the "unscramble the baby words" game, plus some random gifts- here my friend Emilie had just won.

We did this awesome activity where a plate of beads of different colors and shapes are passed around, and everyone is instructed to choose one based on something that reminds them of me or of a wish for the baby- and then they go around the circle and share their choice and string the beads on a necklace. I ended up with a really cool necklace! Here's half the circle waiting for their turn to pick a bead:

And finally, opening presents- here is the "Harvard" mug Kevin's grandpa got us (jokingly).

I had such a lovely time at my shower- it was just wonderful to see everyone again, especially knowing that I won't be back in Colorado for awhile now. Thanks everyone!

Baby Shower: The details

2011-04-05T21:07:00.002-04:00

Seriously, my mom plans the best parties. My Colorado baby shower was beautiful! I was so impressed with all the work she and my dad did to get the house ready- they had to move couches and tables, and rent chairs and tables, hang balloons, decorate the tables, and cook- lots of work! So I thought my first post about the shower would be about all these details (actually, some of these are my favorite photos, as I was too distracted to take too many of the actual people- though I need to work on that!).

First, the diaper cake my mom made- as the name suggests, a "cake" made out of many rolled-up diapers. My mom picked a super cute "Monkey" theme and there were monkeys everywhere, especially on this cake! (for those who don't know, Kevin *loves* monkeys, so I'm sure his daughter will too).

Next, the room all set up to go (the plants were awarded as prizes to some of the guests):

Some of the adorable favors- pastel M&Ms and delicious pumpkin ginger cupcakes:

Balloons!

A very cute stuffed monkey that my mom outfitted in all baby clothes :).

My tiara!! I love getting to wear a tiara.

Dante was pretty excited about it too:

And then there was the food. My dad was designated bartender, and he ground up about 50 oranges to have fresh squeezed OJ- some of which was used to make mimosas, plus we had bloody Marys. My mom's friends brought beautiful fruit platters and coffee cakes, and my mom made some delicious casseroles- yum!!

Celery for the bloody Marys:

This fruit was a work of art!

Yummy coffee cakes:

and casseroles!

I loved all the thought that went into each detail.
More to come....

Baby Update: 30 weeks

2011-03-31T17:43:00.003-04:00

Baby is 75% done baking today!

Meanwhile, I have no idea where she's going to keep growing for the next 10 weeks- I feel like I've run out of space! But the OB tells me she's right on track for size (judging by fundal height alone- no idea how much she's actually weighing right now, though I'm guessing she's hit 3 lbs).

Things are going well. I got to go home to Colorado and see many of my friends and family- my mom threw the best baby shower! I will have pictures soon. My dad made some mean mimosas (with fresh squeezed OJ- what I had to drink), my mother-in-law had some wonderful games, and some of my mom's friends brought lots of delicious goodies. And everyone gave us wonderful presents! I can't wait to use them all when the baby is here!

My mom and I survived our drive across the country (it was actually pretty fun for a 1700 mile road trip!) and so now my car is out here- now I just need to get it registered and we'll have to get the carseat installed.

Meanwhile, we also picked up our dresser/changing table a few weekends ago- a gift from my in-laws (thanks Sharon and Jim!). It's the Ikea Hemnes Chest, and we love it! It's a little shorter than the Hemnes dresser, which will make it easier for me to change the baby's diapers up on the top (I haven't put the changing pad up there yet but will soon. I'm a little worried the cats will think it's their new bed). It's the only baby furniture we've set up yet in the baby's room, though I think in a week or two we'll start working on the crib.

Only ~10 weeks to go! In some ways it seems like a really long time, but I know in reality it will be here before we know it. I'm especially excited after hearing about the birth of our friends' baby girl today (congrats Gavin and Laura!).

Sunday Meditation: Susan Wood

2011-03-27T14:48:00.001-04:00

The Soul Bone

Once I said I didn't have a spiritual bone
in my body and meant by that
I didn't want to think of death,
as though any bone in us
could escape it. Maybe
I was afraid of what I couldn't know
for certain, a thud like the slamming
of a coffin lid, as final and inexplicable
as that. What was the soul anyway,
I wondered, but a homonym for loneliness?
Now, in late middle age, or more, I like to imagine it,
the spirit, the soul bone, as though it were hidden
somewhere inside my body, white as a tooth
that falls from a child's mouth, a dove,
the cloud it can fly through. Like bones,
it persists. Little knot of self, stubborn
as wildflowers in a Chilmark field in autumn,
the white ones they call boneset, for healing,
or the others, pearly everlasting.
The rabbis of the Midrash believed in the bone
and called it the luz, just like the Spanish word
for light, the size of a chickpea or an almond,
depending on which rabbi was telling the story,
found, they said, at the top of the spine or the base,
depending. No one's ever seen it, of course,
but sometimes at night I imagine I can feel it,
shining its light through my body, the bone
luminous, glowing in the dark. Sometimes,
if you listen, you might even hear that light
deep inside me, humming its brave little song.

photo credit

Visitors to B'more

2011-03-24T19:53:00.002-04:00

In February, Kevin's parents took a weekend to visit us! It was exciting to see them- Kevin's mom hadn't been out yet and Kevin's dad hadn't visited for more than an evening when we first moved here, so it was great to have some extended time with them to show them around.

Friday night we picked them up from the airport and high-tailed it over to the aquarium, where they do $8 tickets on Friday nights from 5-9pm. It was fun! Then we went to our favorite Lebanese restaurant- yum.

Saturday, we took the metro over to Hopkins to show them all around where Kevin has been working and studying for the last year and a half:

The lounge area:

The Hopkins dome:

We then walked over to Tortilleria Sinaloa, though the weather was slightly too windy for comfort (at least it wasn't raining/snowing though). It wasn't cold enough to keep us from walking all the way back to our house though! We stopped to warm up at the Baltimore World Trade Center to check out the views:

Looking down and across the harbor to our neighborhood:

Once back at our place, we drove over to Ft. McHenry, which has a newly renovated visitors' center. And they let us into the actual Fort for free! Which was exciting because we've never actually gone in. Here's what the center looks like:

There are a wide variety of displays and interesting rooms to visit. We enjoyed it! And of course we learned all about the writing of the national anthem (did you know there's more than one verse?):

After relaxing a bit, we met up again for dinner at the Helmand (we hit up many of our favorite restaurants- it was a good eating weekend).

Sunday, we headed to D.C. to meet up with some family friends at Matchbox for lunch. Then we all went to the Spy Museum! This is a museum you actually have to pay for (not too common in D.C.), but I really enjoyed it- it looks small from the outside but there's so much to do inside it took us quite awhile to make our way through! I'm glad Kevin and I had the chance to visit.

Overall we had a wonderful time with Kevin's parents and we're happy they got a taste of Baltimore!

Sunday Meditation: Kelli Russell Agodon

2011-03-20T08:42:00.000-04:00

Ahh, doctor poetry....

If I Ever Mistake You For a Poem
By Kelli Russell Agodon

No body was ever composed
from words, not the hipsway

of verse, the iambic beat of a heart.
Yet inside you, a sestina

of arteries, the villanelle of villi,
sonnets between your shoulder blades.

If I were more obsessive I'd follow
the alliteration of age spots across

your arms. But I have exchanged
my microscope for a stethoscope

as I want to listen inside you, past
your repetition, your free verse of skin.

How easy it is to fall for your internal
organs. Your arrhythmia is charming

hidden in the ballad of body,
your gurgling stanzas, your lyric sigh.

photo credit

Random

2011-03-17T19:31:00.003-04:00

Blogging has been hard lately. I find I don't have the energy or time to do all the reviews, picture-editing, etc- but I'm trying! Things have just been very busy around here- and next week I'll be out driving across the country with my mom. :) Something every pregnant woman dreams about, right? Actually I really am excited about it- I'm feeling a little burnt out at work right now (actually I'm mostly burnt out on the commute- it's been super painful lately- ironic that I'm taking a roadtrip for my vacation, eh?)- and it will be good to spend time with my mom one-on-one before the baby gets here.

So today to tide you over, I've just got some random thoughts.

1) Kevin is officially studying for the Step 1 Board exams! There are three total (I think) that you take before you start residency, but it's a pretty big deal. He's taking 6 weeks to study (working right through his spring break) and he'll take the test at the end of April. He's a studying machine, I'm very impressed! And it's nice to have him around the house all day- at least I'm sure the cats think so. :) Then he'll start his first rotation in May.

2) I'm having a baby shower on Saturday! I'm mostly excited because I can't wait to see some of the friends I've missed.

3) It's Match Day today! For those not in the know, this is the day every year when 4th year med school students find out where they "matched" for residency. I can't believe in two more years we'll find out what our plans will be next! I'm already a little stressed out about it....

4) One of our sphynx cats, Bixby, we swear is becoming a full-blown domestic short hair. Her backside has erupted with hair. She always had a furry tail, but now her whole butt/back legs are hairy too. It's okay, we love her anyway. Maybe she just grew some extra for winter?

5) We're going through Chicago next week if things go according to plan, and I get to see my brother! I haven't seen him since Thanksgiving so I'm excited about that.

6) We seriously have the nicest friends and family- we've been getting the most wonderful gifts for baby. I'm hoping to share them with you eventually! We now have all the baby furniture (at least ordered) but none of it is set up yet (though the closet is ready to hold baby stuff).

7) Lest you think it's all baby all the time, work has been going well too. I've been fortunate enough to give two seminars to local universities/institutions in the last month- one great thing about living out here is how many different scientists there are close by to collaborate with!

8) Happy St. Patty's Day!

Weekend in Beantown: Part II

2011-03-13T09:16:00.000-04:00

After our busy first day in Boston, we slept in a little bit the next day. After an amusing breakfast at our B&B, we walked over to the Prudential Building to get some views of Boston. The skies were really clear and we could see for miles!

That's the Charles River on the left, and the open space on the right is Boston Common. Here's another view panned more to the left:

Next, we went to meet up with a friend/colleague of mine Cegeon and his girlfriend Vivian. They took us to a great Dim Sum place- it was crazy busy, but boy the food was delicious! I don't remember the name of it now, sadly, but we got all our Dim Sum favorites. And then we followed it up with boba drinks- I tried the avocado one at Vivian's suggestion, and she was right on- it was delicious! Even Kevin liked it and he doesn't normally like avocado.

We said goodbye to our friends, and then took the subway to the Museum of Science. It was really cool! We watched a great simulated lightning show which was right up my alley. :) The museum is huge and we unfortunately only had a couple of hours to spend, so we only saw a small portion of it overall, but it was really cool. I had been there when I was younger but I thought it was still cool as an adult!

This is one of those contraptions where the balls get rolled around by various levers, rollers, etc- overlooking the Charles River:

Then we had to leave, and Kevin headed back to Baltimore while I headed to Lexington for the work meeting for the next two days. I'm so glad we had the chance for a fun weekend getaway to celebrate Kev's birthday before the baby comes!

Baby Update: 3rd Trimester!

2011-03-10T07:23:00.000-05:00

Today I've been pregnant for 27 weeks, and it's the start of 3rd trimester. 3 months to go until the due date! Time has been flying by the last couple of months- I can't believe in just as short of time we're going to meet our baby.

Last week, I had to drink this not-so-tasty little guy to get checked for gestational diabetes:

The taste actually wasn't that bad, and the drink isn't huge, even though you have to drink it in 5 minutes. So overall it wasn't too bad, though it did make me feel slightly queasy. It got the baby really moving around though! Anyway, I found out yesterday that I passed the test! I'm very happy about that.

Other than that, we're about halfway through our childbirth classes, which have just been all right- though it has given Kevin and me more opportunities to discuss what kind of support and techniques I think might be helpful for me during labor. And I feel like I've learned more about the process, which makes me feel more comfortable about the whole thing. So overall, I guess they've been good.

I'm getting really excited about my Colorado baby shower in about a week and a half- it will be my last travel before baby, and it will be great to see some friends that I've been missing! Then my mom and I are driving my car back to Baltimore- fingers crossed that the weather stays clear for us over like the 8 states we'll drive through.

Weekend in Beantown: Part I

2011-03-08T07:01:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of February, I was scheduled to head up to the Boston area for a work meeting for a couple of days. I purposely scheduled the meeting next to a weekend, and next to Kevin's birthday weekend, so I could surprise him by taking him up there for a fun weekend getaway. It was great! I hadn't mentioned the work meeting so he didn't know I was planning on going to Boston- he just knew we were going somewhere for his birthday. At first he thought we were just driving somewhere, but I accidentally let it slip a few days ahead of the trip that we were flying. It was fun not to have him find out until we walked up to the bag check agent and he saw that our luggage tags said "BOS" on them!

Boston is super close to Baltimore by plane- like less than an hour flight- sweet! We arrived Friday night and took a cab to our hotel, the Encore B&B. It was super nice and I would recommend it!

February isn't maybe the best time to go to Boston, but we were glad to get a chance before the baby comes. There was A LOT of snow though- piled feet high and making us glad we could walk everywhere or take the subway, and avoid having to drive! Here's Kevin in Boston Common, where we started walking the Freedom Trail on Saturday morning:

Luckily they keep the painted red line that marks the Freedom Trail quite clear, so we were able to follow it for the most part (but glad we also had a map).

We saw the Massachusetts State House (shown above), several chapels that were some of the first or oldest buildings in Boston, the site of the Boston massacre (if you haven't seen the John Adams HBO mini-series I highly recommend it), Fanheuil Hall, and learned lots about Paul Revere. Sadly it was too snowy to walk through the cemeteries which I always find interesting but there were signs showing where certain people were buried:

The chapel in the background of this picture below (the Old North Church) is actually where the signal "One if by land; two if by sea" was sent on the evening of Paul Revere's fateful ride:

The best part of the day though? Getting huge homemade cannolis and hot chocolate at Mike's Pastry in the North End neighborhood- what a wonderful way to warm up! We got a special chocolate covered cannoli and shared it- I'm usually not a cannoli fan but even I liked these:

That evening, we had a delicious French dinner at Petit Robert bistro- yummm! Then we took the subway to Harvard Square to see a comedy show at The Comedy Studio- it was quite good. They rotate through about 10 different stand-up comedians, and they were all, for the most part, quite funny! It's only $10 a person too- I was a fan. It was a great day in Boston!!

Taiwan: Last Day in Taipei

2011-03-03T22:00:00.000-05:00

I know these Taiwan posts have lasted awhile- but I've definitely enjoyed going back through the photos from the trip. Now we're to the last day! My parents had left early that morning, the day after we had left Taroko Gorge and headed to Taipei. Kevin and I just had one more day ourselves, so Erin and Myron toured us all over Taipei- and I mean all over! We squeezed in a ton of site seeing in one day- it was awesome, but perhaps a little aggressive for being 17 weeks pregnant- I was soooo exhausted by the end. Luckily I had a long plane ride the next day to catch up on sleep.:)

The first thing we did was to head to Taipei 101, which is currently the second tallest building in the world (the first tallest is in Dubai). It felt very high tech!

The cool thing about our visit- it was New Years' Eve, and that night they were lighting fireworks off the building (more about this later). And I mean, literally off the building- we could see the fireworks strung to the sides when we looked out at the awesome views! (looks like a metal box). This was something we just did not see happening in the U.S.

Taipei 101 has a big focus on the fact that their building structure is very very secure (it has to be, with all the earthquakes and typhoons in Taiwan) due to a "wind damper" in the center of the building, which is basically a huge weight that counterbalances shifts in the building due to earthquakes or gusty winds. They even have a mascot for the building- the Damper Baby. Which is just some cartoon-like version of the actual damper. Here is Kevin standing by the actual damper (giant yellow thing in the back) and the Damper baby:

And my sister and I and Damper Baby:

We had a fun time at Taipei 101- definitely worth a visit!

Next, we headed for lunch at a delicious dumpling place- a very popular place. You actually go and get a number, place your order, and then you come back when your number is called (the wait was about an hour)- then they seat you and your food is already prepared, so everything goes very fast! Yum, I love dumplings....

After lunch we decided to visit the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. It's a huge, beautiful building with a big sculpture of Chiang Kai-Shek inside.

From the top of those steps, you can see views of the National Theater:

From here we walked to a lovely little park, Peace Memorial Park:

We were pretty tired by this point, so we took the subway back to our hotel for some rest and relaxation (side note: Taiwan has one of the nicest, cleanest, cheapest subway systems I've ever seen). We met up a few hours later to head out to a shrine, and a night market (Snake Alley- you can drink snake bile and blood if you so desire- I have no idea why you would):

We got some dinner, and then started walking back towards Taipei 101, where they were going to have the fireworks show. We found a pretty good viewing spot- but it was so insane! There were sooooo many people. I mean, I don't think I've ever seen that many people in one location. I'd say it's probably like Times Square, only I think it was probably even worse, because the sense of personal space is totally different here than in America. We had to wait like an hour and a half until the show began, and I was basically surrounded on every inch of my body by someone else's body. At least it wasn't cold! There was definitely no sitting down- so it was very tiring. But the show was pretty awesome- I've never seen fireworks shoot off a building like that! Here's a video (pictures don't do it justice):

Overall, I was glad I saw the fireworks show, but I don't think I have any desire to face those kind of crowds again.

We really loved Taiwan and were so happy to get a chance to visit! I would recommend it as a great travel destination- it feels much safer than South America, cheaper than Europe (aside from airfare), and more modern than most of Southeast Asia.

Baby Update: 25 weeks

2011-02-25T18:16:00.000-05:00

15 weeks to go- scary! I can't believe how fast time is flying now!

Here are my pictures from 24 and 25 weeks:

My belly button is totally flat! I'm actually not sure it's going to "pop" (though Kevin keeps checking)- I think it will just stay flat and get stretched out.

Here is what the baby looks like this week (image from babycenter):

At this point I'm fairly confident that she's head down, because all the kicks I feel are up high. Let's hope she stays that way!

Kevin and I attended our first childbirth class last night. It was kind of boring but I'm hoping the next class will get more into the actual process of labor. The relaxation exercise was nice though. We have five more classes to go.

We also spent last weekend cleaning out our basement- it looks so much better! Now there's much more room for our office stuff, as well as baby furniture that we now have but haven't set up yet. If only the basement was dug down like 2 more feet so Kevin could actually stand up down there- I don't know if people in 1875 were just really short or what, but when they were digging the basement, I'm not sure what the thought process was on such a short room.

I'm hoping to try to clean out the closet in the baby's room this weekend so that I can start storing baby clothes and other small items in there.

Delayed Gratification

2011-02-21T16:00:00.002-05:00

Four weeks ago Amy went to Seattle for a conference, and I took the opportunity to make a pork chop recipe that Amy wasn't very excited about. The pork chops were disappointing, but something about them reminded me of one of my favorite foods... BBQ spare ribs. Specifically, I began craving a recipe for oven-smoked ribs from Cook's Illustrated. It's a unique recipe that uses Lapsang Souchong tea leaves to effectively smoke the ribs in the oven. The recipe is somewhat involved, so it was 28 days before I was finally able to satisfy my craving.

To go along with the ribs, I tried a new cornbread recipe, sweet cornbread cake. Be warned, the name of this cornbread is not an exaggeration. You could put frosting on it and eat it for dessert. But Amy and I are pretty shameless when it comes to cornbread, and we enjoyed it a lot. I also made my favorite homemade BBQ sauce for dipping. It was worth the wait... one of my favorite meals I've made in a long time.

Taiwan: Taroko Gorge

2011-02-21T14:07:00.003-05:00

After spending the previous day driving up the east coast of Taiwan, we had made it to our destination: Taroko Gorge. This beautiful canyon is mostly astonishing for its hairpin turns and tunnels dug into the rock- quite unlike anything I've seen before.

We stayed at a beautiful lodge at the top of the gorge, and we took a shuttle down to start seeing some of the sites, including a popular spot for swallows:

Time for being goofy (I seriously love this picture):

And a rock that looks like an Indian Chief (can you spot it? His nose and mouth kind of hang out over the water):

Unfortunately we didn't read the shuttle schedule carefully enough, and it turned out they only come along every 2 hours- so then we decided to start walking. Only thing is that for a large part of the gorge, there are no good walkways, meaning you walk in single file along roadways and pray that you won't get hit by a car (and let's not even talk about the tunnels):

So yeah, that part wasn't the best but we still had fun anyway:

Unfortunately because of a recent wet season, there had been several rockfalls and other issues which closed off a number of hikes that we wanted to go to. But the next day, we did find one hike that was open- and it was quite lovely!!

The color of the water in the river was unreal- I'm not sure I've ever seen water that clear and turquoise in a river:

We spent a lot of time looking at it:

We got this group photo before we left- and headed on our way to Taipei.

Taiwan: Road Trip!

2011-02-18T07:45:00.000-05:00

I've posted about our Taiwan trip a few times now, but we're not finished yet! At this point we were at the southern most point, so we turned our minivan and started heading up the eastern coast of Taiwan- a beautiful drive reminiscent of Highway 1 in California or somewhere in Hawaii.

We spent most of this day driving, as the roads are curvy and only one-lane, with few opportunities to pass slow cars. But, we did make a few stops! The first was to a really cool bridge called Sansiantai. It's a humped bridge that goes over to a small island. Very scenic!

We took lots of pictures here:

Erin is being an excited aunt here:

The other memorable stop we made was at this weird art/furniture store- they sold these really funky pieces made out of rocks and driftwood from Taiwan (thanks to my mom for these photos):

And here's another awkward family photo for you:

They're just pointing to the baby, but it looks like I'm about to get some strange procedure done.

We finished the day at a delicious (and cheap!) dumpling soup place. It was delicious!

Baby Picture

2011-02-16T07:36:00.001-05:00

We had a 23.5 week ultrasound on Monday- it was so great to see our little girl again (and they double-checked- definitely a girl!). She now weights 1lb 7oz. I think she's a real cutie. :) She's been kicking up a storm today and I just love it.

In other news, Kevin is done with the classroom portion of med school! It's pretty crazy that med school is going so fast- and he's doing so great, I'm really proud of him. Right now he's in something called "Transition to Wards" where he learns how to do clinical basics like draw blood, place IV lines, give CPR, etc. We're hoping to get his schedule for rotations soon!

A Quick Trip Home

2011-02-13T08:30:00.000-05:00

I know I'm only partway through Taiwan re-caps, but it takes a really long time to process those pictures. So I thought I would post just a couple of pictures from our trip home to Colorado over MLK weekend!

We went for a friend's wedding, though sadly I took zero pictures during the event. I haven't been as good about taking pictures lately! We also had a lot of fun seeing family, and I failed to take people-pictures even then. The only pictures I have? Some of the beautiful Colorado scenery and some from the Colorado stockshow!

This is in Loveland- I was walking around looking while Kevin went for a long run and stopped to take pictures of the horses:

One thing I miss about Colorado is the wide open spaces!

The stock show was a lot of fun- I haven't been in ages. My parents got us tickets to see the rodeo- it was a bit long but it was fun! Those cowboys must have some serious back problems.

Sad it was such a short trip home, but it was great to see friends we haven't seen in awhile, and our families!

Baby Update: 23 weeks

2011-02-10T17:11:00.002-05:00

Today I'm 23 weeks pregnant, and the baby apparently weighs about a pound. I have an ultrasound on Monday, so I'll find out then how much she weighs for sure- it can vary a lot at this point. But my stomach sure looks big!

I *love* all the little kicks I've been getting- nice big ones! Kevin can feel them now and I can see my stomach jump. :) She's gotten into more of a pattern with periods of lots of activity and then a few hours with nothing.

In other news, we bought our crib! There was a sale on Amazon so we went for it. We got the Graco Lauren crib in white, shown below. We won't set it up yet, because our office is still... well, an office. We need to clean the basement and move everything down there! But I can't wait to set it up. :) I'm trying to decide on bedding right now and having trouble- I don't like anything cartoony (I like the modern feel more), and I also don't want pink. We have a burnt orange or rust rug in the room right now, and the other color I want to incorporate is aqua, but finding bedding with those colors is proving to be tricky! I might have to go more neutral on bedding and use other things to accent, since the colors are pretty bold.

Best Ever Breakfast Smoothie

2011-02-07T16:00:00.000-05:00

Confession: I have had this smoothie every day of my pregnancy that I've been home. I love it so much. I think the baby likes it too.

You know how sometimes if you make a smoothie with ice- after about 2 minutes the smoothie separates? Well, this smoothie never does that. It's the best. thing. ever.

What do you need to make this delicious treat?

(1) About 1/3 cup dried oats (the secret ingredient!)
(2) A banana
(3) Some kind of frozen fruit
(4) Juice and/or milk
(4) Optional honey or sweetener (I don't use any- but I know Kevin likes it a little sweeter)
(5) Optional: anything else you can think of! I've tried spinach, lime juice, coconut milk, other kinds of fruit, etc... it's all delicious!

Here are the steps:

(1) Put the oats in the blender. Blend them all up so they make a bit of a powder. This is what keeps the smoothie from separating! You won't even be able to taste the oats once the smoothie is made- and it adds fiber!

(2) Add banana, broken into pieces. Add frozen fruit (I love blueberries the best- usually just about 1/2 cup). Add your milk/juice (I use a combination of both, especially if I'm just using one kind of frozen fruit)- just enough to not quite cover the banana and fruit. Add any optional ingredients (spinach is awesome here because you can't taste it AT ALL and yet you're getting spinach in your diet!! I have a hard time getting all my daily veggies so I love this option!). Blend it all up!

Taiwan: Kenting

2011-02-05T08:53:00.000-05:00

After seeing the area around Kaohsiung, we headed down south in our family rental minivan to Kenting, located at the southern most tip of Taiwan. We had stopped to buy these weird fruits/roots that had been heavily advertised in roadside stands along the way- turns out they're some kind of underwater root that people cook like potatoes, but we called them moustache fruit. So we had to take another picture (we also still had sugar cane from yesterday):

Outside of town, we stopped at the aquarium for the morning- a huge, 3 building complex filled with all kinds of wonderful sea creatures.

Me and the Giant Squid Sculpture:

I love this one of Kevin being silly:

Belugas!!

This aquarium also had a whale shark- the biggest fish in the world! (he even has little fish that swim underneath him- perhaps so they don't get eaten themselves?)

After checking into our hotel, we went to the beach. The beaches in Taiwan are great! This time of year it's very uncrowded with nice sand and awesome water (Kevin had a great time swimming- I'm not a big ocean swimmer).

We then took a little adventure to the National Park area that surrounds the coastline. It had gotten a little cold by that point, but you mostly just drive along and stop and scenic points. One stop had cool rocks to look at:

Here we were trying to draw attention to the natural keyhole in the rocks but I think instead we just ended up looking goofy:

We also walked through this crazy jungle at twilight, saw a lighthouse, the sunset, and this lovely view:

That night, we ate in Kenting at a Thai restaurant, then went to the night market. Night markets in Taiwan are quite fun- tons of food stalls, little stands selling trinkets, and games- Kevin and Myron did one game where you shot balloons for prizes with a bb gun. Not your typical American fair food though- these grilled squid looked pretty tasty though!

p.s. Happy birthday to my wonderful husband today!! I love you!

Baby Update: 22 weeks

2011-02-03T17:53:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling very pregnant lately! Possibly this is helped along by the fact that my hips are killing me, particularly after my week spent socializing and walking around the hills of Seattle while at a work conference. I was taking hot showers every night and every morning to ease the soreness. It hasn't been nearly as bad since I've been home- probably because I mostly just sit in a chair all day here. ;)

1) Baby's equivalent fruit size? A papaya! Sadly I'm going to have to stop posting the sizes because my source no longer has them by week past 21 weeks.

2) How am I feeling? See above. :) Other than that, pretty good! I think baby must be growing because my stomach area constantly feels like it's stretching.

3) Exciting updates? Baby is kicking all the time now! What used to be light taps are now nice big kicks that I can even see from the outside. Even more exciting is that Kevin finally felt it! I had been trying but as soon as I'd put his hand there, she would stop doing it. Two nights ago we had success and he felt it nice and clear! I love this part of pregnancy. It's such a weird feeling!

4) Other news? We have registered at Amazon and decided not to register at a store like Babies R Us. I had heard bad things and frankly Amazon has much better prices- so the inconvenience of having to ship stuff is negated in my opinion. Kevin and I also went stroller shopping- our favorite stroller is the BOB revolution - see below. :) Is it sad that now when we walk by a person with a stroller I can tell right away what kind it is and whether it deserves stroller envy or not?
I've been starting to freak out a little because we haven't started the nursery AT ALL. I have picked out most everything I need for the room, but don't want to order anything yet because we need to start removing items from the room, fixing little things like the cracks in the drywall near the windows, setting up the closet, etc... and I haven't been home much on the weekends. Honestly looking at the next month I won't be home on a weekend until the end of February! So I guess we'll be slackers. Also, our childbirth classes start in 3 weeks! Looking forward to that.

Taiwan: Butterflies & Buddhas

2011-02-01T16:38:00.000-05:00

On our second day in Taiwan, we took off to a national park known for its abundance of butterflies (sounds like "hootie-ay" in Mandarin).

When we first arrived, it was pretty cold and foggy, and we began to wonder if there were any butterflies around, besides the decorative ones on the lamp posts.

Apparently parts of Taiwan received a ton of rainfall this last autumn, causing landslides and washing out roads. We came across this one in the park:

Kind of crazy how the road just disappears behind Myron! You can see the other side, and all the rest of the road was washed to the bottom of the valley.

Finally it started to warm up and suddenly there were butterflies everywhere! I'm glad we got to see some:

After stopping for some sugar cane:

.... we made our way to this almost Disney-ish Buddha park, where hundreds of Buddhas could be found. First though, we took an "Awkward Family Photo":

Haha, I think it's pretty funny!

Okay, onto the Buddhas:

In these lighted caverns, you could read the story of Buddhism, and what is needed to achieve nirvana:

Then you could light a candle for the well-being of your family. Though it was a little freaky because a little girl who lighted a candle just after I shot this picture had her hair catch on fire! Luckily Kevin and Dad got to her to put it out and only the ends got fried.

My family likes taking pictures in weird ways:

There were lots of cool buddhas outside too:

And the grandest of them all. You could see this beautiful gold statue for miles from the highway!

Back in Kaohsiung, we saw the really nice park near my sister's apartment. They stake all the trees because of all the typhoons.

Finally, we got some dim sum for dinner- yummy!

Sunday Meditation: Derek Walcott

2011-01-30T10:08:00.000-05:00

Dark August
by Derek Walcott

So much rain, so much life like the swollen sky
of this black August. My sister, the sun,
broods in her yellow room and won't come out.

Everything goes to hell; the mountains fume
like a kettle, rivers overrun; still,
she will not rise and turn off the rain.

She is in her room, fondling old things,
my poems, turning her album. Even if thunder falls
like a crash of plates from the sky,

she does not come out.
Don't you know I love you but am hopeless
at fixing the rain? But I am learning slowly

to love the dark days, the steaming hills,
the air with gossiping mosquitoes,
and to sip the medicine of bitterness,

so that when you emerge, my sister,
parting the beads of the rain,
with your forehead of flowers and eyes of forgiveness,

all will not be as it was, but it will be true
(you see they will not let me love
as I want), because, my sister, then

I would have learnt to love black days like bright ones,
the black rain, the white hills, when once
I loved only my happiness and you.

photo credit

Taiwan: Monkey Mountain

2011-01-28T15:00:00.000-05:00

One of the main things we wanted to do in Taiwan was to go to Monkey Mountain in Kaohsiung. So after we visited the park the morning of Christmas, we had a delicious homemade dumpling and noodle lunch:

and then proceeded to Monkey Mountain:

Kevin looooovees monkeys. Monkey Mountain is a gorgeous natural park on the outskirts of the city, and if you keep your eyes peeled, you're likely to run into some of pretty cute macaque monkeys:

I like the expression of the one on the left:

My dad captured this shot:

And this might be the favorite of the ones I took:

We got some entertaining pictures of the people too:

And then shots of each of the couples. We really missed my brother and his girlfriend on this trip!!

We ended with a lovely view of Kaohsiung! The weather was just perfect and we had a great time hiking around the park and seeing the monkeys. Merry Christmas to us!

p.s. Happy Birthday to my sister today!!!

Taiwan: Christmas Day

2011-01-26T06:37:00.000-05:00

I'm going to try to get through some Taiwan re-caps, but it's tricky because we ended up with a ton of great photos between the six of us. Anyway, I'm in Seattle this week conferencing it up, so enjoy the photos and let me know your favorites!

Kevin and I flew from D.C. to Newark, and then a 14-hour flight to Tokyo, and then to Taipei. We arrived in Taipei on Christmas Eve night ~10pm, and took a bus from the airport to the central train station. Our hotel was close by, and we crashed for the night.

The next day (Christmas), we took the high-speed train from Taipei to Kaohsiung, where my sister Erin and her husband Myron are living for two years. The high-speed train was great! It goes over 100 mph and is very smooth. It only took 2 hours to get across almost the entire country!

When we arrived, we took a cab to my sister's apartment- it was good to see where they live! My mom and dad had arrived a week earlier and they had all been traveling down the west coast. We opened stockings that Erin and Myron had put together- but it still didn't feel much like Christmas, as it was about 70F outside and very tropical.

So moving on to pictures- the first day we did a lot, starting by going to see the school where Erin and Myron teach!

From there we walked to a wonderful park and huge lake with lots of pagodas and temples all around it.

In this temple, there is a contraption where you can choose a stick- for either health or fortune. Then you match the words on the stick to the writing on the drawers. If it's for fortune, you'll get your fortune told; if it's for medicine, you'll get some list of Chinese herbs to help you with your health problems. At least, that's how I think it works.

There are also dragons everywhere, which we rubbed for good luck.

These twin pagodas were really cool- you walked into the dragon and out of the tiger, and you could climb up to see the view:

Do you see someone familiar across the way, in the other pagoda?

I liked the dragon and tiger decor:

And of course, we had to get a picture taken in the tiger's mouth:

Of course, we couldn't help being a little goofy:

You gotta love Japanese toilets

2011-01-24T07:10:00.000-05:00

This is sort of the start of my Taiwan recaps, but I'm starting small- in the bathroom of the Tokyo airport. Actually, back on Semester at Sea I was really excited when we stopped at a public restroom in Japan and there was a button you could push to make flushing noises (presumably, to cover up other, less pleasant sounds). Then for years I wondered whether I imagined it- well, in the Tokyo airport there was maybe the fanciest toiled I've ever used:

Okay, buttons 2 and 3 frighten me a little bit as an American (though I find them amusing, and I'm still not sure about the difference between them- but you could adjust water pressure and water temperature to your liking), but you'll notice "flushing sound" on there too. And in case the pictures and buttons aren't clear enough for you, here are the very detailed instructions to go with them:

I mean, look, they even have a deoderizer! Where have you been on this one, America? (Actually after Taiwan, I'm just glad to have public toilets with any seat at all. And toilet paper).

20 weeks!

2011-01-22T09:15:00.000-05:00

I know there's been a lot of baby talk on here lately but I'm trying to process the Taiwan photos and it's taking forever. And anyway, I'm excited to pass the halfway marker! I can't decide whether the first 20 weeks went by really slowly or really fast- kind of a combination I guess. But I definitely can't believe a baby will be here in 20 weeks! There seems like waaaayyy too much to do before then.

Anyway, my 20 week picture:

This week the baby is apparently the size of a cantaloupe, but I'm not buying it. Next week it's a banana. How is a banana bigger than a cantaloupe? I guess they're going by length and not overall size. There is no way something the size of a real cantaloupe is fitting inside my abdomen right now.
I also wanted to share some of the amazing baby gifts we've gotten so far. My sister and her husband got us this adorable baby blanket:

Then my friend Katy sent us the cutest little girl clothes! I haven't bought any baby clothes yet so I loved looking at the tiny things.

Finally, Kevin's classmates surprised us with a baby shower- so nice of them! Kevin was totally surprised (I was in on the secret). They gave us a gift card and the cutest Hopkins onesie and bib- love it! And our friend Meghana actually knit us some wonderful little booties and hats. I was impressed! Then we all ate cake, of course. :)

Of course, I've also gotten some wonderful maternity clothes from my sister-in-law and cousin-in-law. Anyway, since baby stuff is new to me, I think it's all pretty cute! But I'm not going to share every gift in the future, so don't worry. :)

Kevin's Favorite Recipes - Vegetarian Chili

2011-01-20T08:00:00.001-05:00

I've made this recipe more than any other single recipe in my life. It's tasty, healthy, easy, and although it's best on a cold evening I enjoy it all year around. This recipe makes enough for 4-6 bowls of chili, but sometimes if we need to stretch it out we'll serve it Cincinnati style - over spaghetti. To round out the meal, I'll usually serve it with cornbread or toast. Like most of my favorite recipes, this comes from Cook's Illustrated (with some minor modifications).

Taste: 4/5
Convenience: 4/5
Health: 5/5
Cost: 5/5 (Provided you already own the required spices)

Ingredients:
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 onion, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped fine
9 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp cayenne
Salt
2 14.5 oz cans of beans (I use one can of kidney beans and one can of black beans), drained and rinsed
2 cups water
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained of excess juice
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp juice from 1 lime

1) Toast the cumin seeds in a large Dutch oven over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 1 minute. Stir in the onion, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, oil, cayenne, and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables soften, about 8 to 10 minutes.

2) Stir in the beans, water, tomatoes, oregano, and brown sugar, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the chili is slightly thickened, about 25 minutes.

3) Stir in the corn and continue to simmer until heated through, 5-10 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the cilantro and lime juice, and season with salt to taste.

The next two weeks....

2011-01-17T19:47:00.002-05:00

...are going to feel a little like this:

(Yes, Bixby naturally sits like this. She's weird. :) ).

I have a work presentation this week, and then a huge conference next week with two more presentations... so if the blogging is a little slow, that's why!

In other news, we made a quick visit to Colorado this weekend- it was fun! We were there for a friend's wedding in Loveland- and it was good to see some Loveland and Fort Collins friends (sorry to those we missed!). We also got to spend a little time with each of our families, and went to the Denver Western Rodeo and Stock Show. Yeehaw!