Look to the right and you'll see that there's another Flickr account to peek at. I'm trying to keep overlap with Mark's Flickr down. I think I'm eventually going to move all the Photobucket pictures to Flickr because Flickr just looks nicer.
Gaz is snoozing in the living room. She crashed pretty hard around 11:00. Yesterday was a long day for her, with some sight-seeing downtown, catching up with the B-Festers up in Evanston, and more time than she'd like spent in the car. We had a pretty big meltdown yesterday afternoon. Now it seems that she's catching up on nap, and she's also got some unhappy intestines. Nothing a long afternoon nap and lots of breastmilk won't cure, though.
New thing for Gaz to laugh at: the word "cat." Any time I say it, she laughs.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Thursday, January 26, 2006
stroller crisis resolved!
I've been agonizing over what stroller to upgrade to. Gaz has long since outgrown the carseat/Snap 'n Go stroller, and the umbrella stroller we were gifted with has certainly come in handy in these between stroller days, but it's almost too short for me and it's way too short for Mark. Excellent for Babysitter Lisa, though, and probably Grandma Cel too.
My exhaustive research led me to the Maclaren brand, which seems to be one of the very few that has generally tallish handles and the more complex varieties have adjustable handles that go up to practically Wilt Chamberlain level. The issue is that Maclaren isn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but with few options we held a special meeting of the finance committee and decided to transfer some money from savings to checking. (Insert gratitude over the aggressive saving plan we got started last spring.)
It took three stops (first Target and Babies 'r Us), but I finally ended up at The Right Start's January sale. I generally don't go there: it's yuppie momma land, where everything is fancy and expensive. They do have tons of really good things (breast pumps and food mills and interesting developmental toys/DVDs) but it's clearly the place for people who don't have budgets. So I stroll in in my well-worn vintage French Army coat, looking a bit like a homeless person, but with more money. I see a Quest in the window for 20% off and I heave a sigh of relief. There would be at least one item in our price range. When I actually tried them all out, though, it seemed that the Techno XT (a full $100 more than the Quest) would be the only one that would work. The others have tallish handles, but the Techno's got the adjustable handles and I really wasn't sure that the others were tall enough for Mark. At least one of us shouldn't have back trouble.
While I dithered over Maclarens, pushing each around the aisles and knocking things over with the aforementioned giant winter coat, the salesgal brought over something else I might be interested in: the Inglesina Trip. It's a brand new model apparently, and therefore not on sale. Fortunately, it was cheaper than the Quest already and had almost the same features as the Techno, minus the adjustable handles and enormous wheels. The biggest benefit is that the handles are taller than the Techno at it's base height. It also weights almost 10 lbs. less than the Techno, which is important for those odd times you end up having to use an El station that doesn't have an elevator. So long story short: I got the Trip in gray and left the store horribly late for work, but happy with the purchase. Plus, it's Italian, so we'll look like natives if we ever get to take the Gaz to Europe while she's stroller size.
Can't wait to get it home and let the Gaz try it out!
(P. S. - Hello everyone! Glad so many folks have made it here to keep up with our adventures!)
My exhaustive research led me to the Maclaren brand, which seems to be one of the very few that has generally tallish handles and the more complex varieties have adjustable handles that go up to practically Wilt Chamberlain level. The issue is that Maclaren isn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but with few options we held a special meeting of the finance committee and decided to transfer some money from savings to checking. (Insert gratitude over the aggressive saving plan we got started last spring.)
It took three stops (first Target and Babies 'r Us), but I finally ended up at The Right Start's January sale. I generally don't go there: it's yuppie momma land, where everything is fancy and expensive. They do have tons of really good things (breast pumps and food mills and interesting developmental toys/DVDs) but it's clearly the place for people who don't have budgets. So I stroll in in my well-worn vintage French Army coat, looking a bit like a homeless person, but with more money. I see a Quest in the window for 20% off and I heave a sigh of relief. There would be at least one item in our price range. When I actually tried them all out, though, it seemed that the Techno XT (a full $100 more than the Quest) would be the only one that would work. The others have tallish handles, but the Techno's got the adjustable handles and I really wasn't sure that the others were tall enough for Mark. At least one of us shouldn't have back trouble.
While I dithered over Maclarens, pushing each around the aisles and knocking things over with the aforementioned giant winter coat, the salesgal brought over something else I might be interested in: the Inglesina Trip. It's a brand new model apparently, and therefore not on sale. Fortunately, it was cheaper than the Quest already and had almost the same features as the Techno, minus the adjustable handles and enormous wheels. The biggest benefit is that the handles are taller than the Techno at it's base height. It also weights almost 10 lbs. less than the Techno, which is important for those odd times you end up having to use an El station that doesn't have an elevator. So long story short: I got the Trip in gray and left the store horribly late for work, but happy with the purchase. Plus, it's Italian, so we'll look like natives if we ever get to take the Gaz to Europe while she's stroller size.
Can't wait to get it home and let the Gaz try it out!
(P. S. - Hello everyone! Glad so many folks have made it here to keep up with our adventures!)
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
The darnedest things
Gaz gets completely silly over the stragest things. Right now she's really into my "jelly midriff." Any time my belly ends up exposed she smiles and reaches out to grab a fistful of skin and fat and when she can (like when I'm laying on the floor nearby while she's sitting playing with her toys) she'll lean over and rest her forehead on my flab. I keep telling her that on the other side of the stretch marks is the place where she lived for a number of months, but she's mostly just enamored of the squishiness.
We have two other new fun games, too. "Up and down" starts with her laying down next to me, usually on the couch, and then I'll hold her hands and pull her up to either sitting or standing depending on how straight she's holding her legs while saying "up" and then laying her back down while saying "down." There doesn't seem to be a time limit on how entertaining this game can be. The other game is the "move Mama's head" game, wherein she'll push my face away from her to one side and then giggle like a maniac when I turn my head back to look at her. This game eventually gets boring, and then she wants to be pushed up into the air, but I don't do that much since it aggravates my tendinitis. That's more of a Dad game, and when he does it he always prefaces it with "do you want to go whooosh?" It's amazing how quickly she'll go from fussy to ecstatic just by popping her up in the air above your head.
We're going to have some pretty beefy, burly arms from doing all these lifts and presses with the heavy baby.
We have two other new fun games, too. "Up and down" starts with her laying down next to me, usually on the couch, and then I'll hold her hands and pull her up to either sitting or standing depending on how straight she's holding her legs while saying "up" and then laying her back down while saying "down." There doesn't seem to be a time limit on how entertaining this game can be. The other game is the "move Mama's head" game, wherein she'll push my face away from her to one side and then giggle like a maniac when I turn my head back to look at her. This game eventually gets boring, and then she wants to be pushed up into the air, but I don't do that much since it aggravates my tendinitis. That's more of a Dad game, and when he does it he always prefaces it with "do you want to go whooosh?" It's amazing how quickly she'll go from fussy to ecstatic just by popping her up in the air above your head.
We're going to have some pretty beefy, burly arms from doing all these lifts and presses with the heavy baby.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
our panacea
I previously noted that Gaz has started laughing, but yesterday was a day full of her laughter. It used to be that she'd laugh when we'd tickle her and that was about it, but yesterday for a good long time she was just in a very giggly mood. Whatever I did--talk, sing, make faces--I was treated to seemingly endless laughter. She laughed at Mark for a goodly while, too.
More than her laughter being the best medicine, I think it could cure avian flu given a big enough gigglefest.
More than her laughter being the best medicine, I think it could cure avian flu given a big enough gigglefest.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Celebrate the small things
Success! Gaz took a bottle today, 4+ oz, and took naps with a minimum of fussing. It's a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. It was so nice to spend the day with the happy Gaz.
Monday, January 9, 2006
water = fun
Now that we've discovered splashing, bathtime will rarely be a crisis again! It started with her noticing that water and air are two separate thing for hands to move through, then there was wiggling fingers in the water and taking them out to look at her wet digits, now there's all sorts of amusement in the splashing. We may as well all be in the tub sometimes, as wet as we get. She'll outgrow her little tub soon, but we've got a bath chair on deck for when that happens.
Friday, January 6, 2006
on the tooth front
One of those front teeth is finally definitely on the move. At the rate these bums have been moving there's no telling when either will emerge, but they're definitely closer to the bottom edge of her gum now. My money's on the left one but I've been wrong plenty of times.
Weighed the Gaz yesterday and she was 23 lbs. I'd previously cut myself off from weighing her because I was getting bent out of shape with what looked like a lack of growth from week to week, so now I'll just weigh her once a monthish and not at all on the months where she's got a doctor appointment. Their scales are better than me weighing us together and then just me and doing the math. I think we all know how great I am at the math. Anyway, what this means is that it's time to put the 9 mo. clothes away, which is something that occurred to me when I put her in one of the 9 mo. sleepers earlier in the week. So we're totally in the 12 monthers now, with an eye to trying on some of the 18 mo. outfits to see how they fit.
She's really enamored of toys these days and will play happily by herself for increasing amounts of time. Meals are much less of a problem now that she's happy in the doorway jumper while food is being prepared (most days) and will cheerfully play with a toy while sitting next to one of us on the couch while the grown ups eat. That's pretty awesome. This morning she chewed away on a teething ring (one made of solid plastic beads, which is quite fun to throw as well) and when I looked up at her she let go of the ring, letting it hang in her mouth, while she smiled up at me. She looked like an adorable puppy-child. :)
Another fun game lately is to lean forward to touch something while sitting up, then to lean back into whatever's back there, and repeat. It works best on the couch but she'll try it on the floor when she's sitting in her Boppy too.
Weighed the Gaz yesterday and she was 23 lbs. I'd previously cut myself off from weighing her because I was getting bent out of shape with what looked like a lack of growth from week to week, so now I'll just weigh her once a monthish and not at all on the months where she's got a doctor appointment. Their scales are better than me weighing us together and then just me and doing the math. I think we all know how great I am at the math. Anyway, what this means is that it's time to put the 9 mo. clothes away, which is something that occurred to me when I put her in one of the 9 mo. sleepers earlier in the week. So we're totally in the 12 monthers now, with an eye to trying on some of the 18 mo. outfits to see how they fit.
She's really enamored of toys these days and will play happily by herself for increasing amounts of time. Meals are much less of a problem now that she's happy in the doorway jumper while food is being prepared (most days) and will cheerfully play with a toy while sitting next to one of us on the couch while the grown ups eat. That's pretty awesome. This morning she chewed away on a teething ring (one made of solid plastic beads, which is quite fun to throw as well) and when I looked up at her she let go of the ring, letting it hang in her mouth, while she smiled up at me. She looked like an adorable puppy-child. :)
Another fun game lately is to lean forward to touch something while sitting up, then to lean back into whatever's back there, and repeat. It works best on the couch but she'll try it on the floor when she's sitting in her Boppy too.
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