Video of the babe

We'll see if this works. Fingers crossed.

6 month update

This child has suddenly turned into a real, actual human being. She is so interactive. She can sit up by herself, say "baba" and dada". She is also getting her first tooth! She might have rolled off the bed the other day, too - but she doesn't seem any worse for wear. And as I confess that, (even though it wasn't on my watch, I feel awful about it!) just about everyone I tell has a similar story. I think it's a right of passage of parenthood or something. Basically, realizing you child isn't a Faberge egg. Our doctor told us that if we walk into her office with a five year old with her first skinned knee, we are doing something wrong - she should have her first skinned knee way before that. She said bumps and bruises are how they learn their limits. I love our doctor. I am also scared of Cassidy hurting herself. But that is just part of life, part of motherhood. I love this little girl so much. She is just a delight at this age. No, the sleeping situation isn't really any better, but she is totally worth it.

6 month update

She can sit up all by herself! Almost exactly at 6 months. It is so funny how one day she totally can't do something and the next day she can. She is also saying DaDa and BaBa...sporadically. She weighs 15 pounds, 4 ounces. She went down to the 25th percentile for weight but 50th for height and head circumference.

She has a v ery short attention span and really gets mad if she feels like she has just been put down and left somewhere. We have to kind of trick her into it, like put her down or in her exersaucer and kind of mosey away, nonchalantly. Otherwise she yells, like immediately. High pitched, angry, loud. She yells about that the way that other babies yell when they have been very suddenly injured in some way. It is rather disturbing, but also kind of funny. It's like her feelings are hurt, but times 50.

She still has a bald spot on the back of her head from this little habit she has of vigorously turning her head from side to side about 20 times before she falls asleep. Hopefully that will go away. That and the little patch of hair on her lower back - yipes! (If only she could switch them...)

She screams with delight whenever she sees either of the cats and she loves her baths better than just about anything. She still is not really into sleeping.






The picture with me in it is of me, Kevin, Cass and Lily, Amy and Scott's daughter who about 6 weeks old (about 1 month in this photo.)

ugh. our first choking incident

Well, we had our first mini-emergency. It was relatively minor, but it COULD have been BAD. She managed to nibble off a corner of an envelope and down the hatch it went. I tried to grab it but couldn't - she shut her little baby jaws and wouldn't let me reach in there. She swallowed it and started to choke. I had to grab her and run up the stairs to the changing table where I coule see better doing "back blows" which knocked it free. I then tried to grab it first with my fingers, then tweezers, and eventually fished it out with her baby thermometer. I remained calm, but nearly had a heart attack afterward. Poor thing - she was so scared and confused - I've never hit her on the back or shoved my fingers down her throat before. I felt horrible about the whole thing.

2009: the year in review

January: In January of this year, I was in my second trimester. I also started to get very sick. It started out as a cold - it got worse and worse and eventually turned into pneumonia, which is the LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH OF PREGNANT WOMEN. It turned into a sinus infection at some point which made my face hurt - a lot. I was afraid of falling on the ice and hurting the babe. I wasn't big enough for maternity clothes but my pants were all too tight. I also remember being extremely afraid to drive. I have never minded driving in the snow, having grown up in Pittsburgh. I know how to guide a sliding car into a guard rail if I have to - but when you have a little body inside you, that airbag is scary. In non-baby related news, I took my favorite grad school class so far. The Steelers won the SUPERBOWL. The last time this happened, Kevin and I were dating and we were fairly intoxicated in a bar with a bunch of people. This time, we were in our living room with Stacey and Ken and Kevin was the only one who was even remotely intoxicated. I was stone cold sober and I can tell you it is definitely more fun when you are drinking.

February: We went to the ultrasound and found out that we were going to have a girl! My now boss, who is a friend and grad school classmate of mine, started talking about possibly hiring me to work for her. Went to a great dinner with Amy and Scott at one of my very favorite restaurants for Valentines Day. It's possible that Lily, their new baby was in Amy's tummy at the time, but we didn't know it. I missed out on snow tubing due to pregnancy. This year, we can take turns watching the squirt. Last year, this was not an option. I was very, very bored.

March: Our friend, Kelly, had her baby, Chase. She had a pregnancy wrought with all sorts of predicted problems so when Chase came out healthy and strong, it was a huge relief. I felt Cassidy move for the first time. I went to Athens and made a mess of my trip there - although I spent more time with Bob than I have in years and that was really nice.

April: My co-workers threw me a surprise baby shower along with 2 other pregnant ladies. It was really nice. For the first time, ever in my life, I personally purchased a new piece of furniture. It was a changing table/dresser for Cassidy. I said something somewhat insensitive that was related to politics to an Iraqi war veteran without meaning to and caused them to cry. This was one of the low points of the year. I started pre-natal yoga - a pregnancy high point.

May: My birthday weekend was as good as it gets when you're pregnant. My husband used his hotel reward points and booked us a room at a nice hotel and took me to an amazing dinner at a restaurant that rocked my world. Especially the caesar salad. Pregnant ladies make a cheap date - no cocktails.

June: My baby shower. It is amazing how many people love us (me, Kevin, and now Cassidy.) I forgot a good friend's birthday even though I spent her b-day weekend with her - it was horrible. I interviewed for my current job, even though it seemed kind of crazy to change jobs at this hectic, changing, new life chapter. I was having some mild contractions during the interview.

July: I was offered the job. I took the job. Kevin's birthday evening started with a nice dinner at a good restaurant and ended with me getting induced in the hospital. Cassidy was born a day and a half later. It was the most exciting experience of my life. Then I nearly died from hemoraging, which was not as bad as it sounds, but pretty bad. The next three weeks were the most difficult experience of my life. Being sleep deprived, hormone-wacky, mostly isolated from society in general and out of any semblence of routine while trying to do something very important that you have never done before just totally sucks. My mom was extremely helpful and Kevin was downright heroic. But I did not feel mentally or emotionally right for at least 3 weeks. Next time, I am getting the anti-anxiety meds prescribed before labor even begins. For the first few weeks of her life, I just did what needed to be done, slept when I could and worried constantly about her.

August: We went on a lovely vacation to the New York Finger Lakes. We drank a lot of wine and got a lot of baby breaks. Thank God for Grammie. It was the first time since her birth that I felt ok and semi-sane and actually had fun. I still had a lot of anxiety and exhaustion. But my family was very good to us and we got to relax a bit. I tried to ride my mom's bike 10 miles and quit halfway. Bike riding a few weeks after giving birth is a bad idea. I returned to work and resigned. I started to feel human again and began to truly love and enjoy my baby instead of just doing what needed to be done and worrying about her.

September: I started my new job. I got into a real routine and began to feel not just ok, but good. Like myself. I am not stay-at-home-mom material in any way. I do so much better at a job. In a routine. Out of the house. When i am with Cassidy, our time is quality and I enjoy most every moment. I stopped pumping breastmilk, which was kind of a bummer, but that whole thing just didn't go as planned. She started smiling, which is amazing. Grad school started back up. I fell in love with qualitative research. We had a little get together for people to meet Cassidy. It is the first outdoor party we've had at our house. It went well but we bought way too much beer.

October: Baby Girl reverted to a challenging sleep pattern. We have resorted to co-sleeping about half the night. First Halloween. Dressed up like a Monkey of course.

November: Cassidy started rolling over. I went away for an overnight to a conference and left daddy and baby together. Haley and Jesse got engaged. I spent most of Thanksgiving morning at the Mission helping get ready for the big meal service.

December: Finished my 3rd semester of grad school. Lily Grace arrived - finally. Kevin and I went to see KISS live at the arena. Got all my shopping done, somehow. Enjoyed our first Christmas as a family. Stayed in with Kevin, Cassidy, Darrick and Amanda for New Year's Eve.

Overall, I give the year a 9.5 It was a lot more low key than any previous year since I was a child and I missed out on a few fun activities and travel opportunities. But the best thing that has ever happened to us took place this year - Cassidy. Nothing life-changingly, irreversibly horrible happened and our lives are better than ever with the little peanut around. Best. Year. Yet.

baby toys

So Christmas has come and gone. There was much wrapping and tissue paper, gift bags and love thrown about. I love Christmas, I really do. The lights, the gifts, the hustle and bustle. The food and the fact that there is wine everywhere.

There is a whole new entity to Christmas this year, you know, with the baby and all. She is too little to really "get" Christmas and Santa and such. Even next year that will all be something of a vague, fuzzy idea that is kind of exciting and fun but confusing to her, I imagine. But what happens when you have kids is that there are gifts. And some of the gifts are practical (yay!!) - thanks for the diapers (Mom) and the savings bond (Babcie) and the $$ (Uncle Bob and Aunt Barbara). Definitely big fan of that kind of thing...the child needs a clean bottom and the means to go to college. Some are cute - stuffed monkeys and little girlie outfits are great. Some are sweet but duplicates - how many My First Christmas ornaments does one child need? Some are wonderful and will stimulate learning - yay for blocks, a xylophone and stacking rings. But others are just....noisy and loud and plastic and annoying. Now, truth be told, some of these bothersome presents came straight from Santa, i.e. HER FATHER. So, it's not like I'm blaming anyone in particular.

See, we have a small house. And it is already full of crap. We have an entertainment center that is as big as a climbing wall. We have a tv that would barely fit in the back of a pick up truck. And yet two people cannot really comfortably make a meal together in our kitchen due to lack of space. So it gave me a mini panic attack when I saw the growing pile of baby items (and presents for mama and daddy) as Christmas day drew to a close. Don't get me wrong - i love presents! And many of the items were much needed. However, our dining room table is currently stacked to the ceiling. And the pile makes noise. It sings and laughs and beeps and honks. Little colorful plastic edges poke out and if you touch something, it plays a song at you. Loudly. Last night there was some hidden stuffed critter emitting an unidentifiable animal noise late into the night. We never found it - we think it's battery died. Praise the Lord.

I've gotten past my vision of my baby quietly and contentedly playing with only handcrafted, organic, non-toxic, paint-free, fruit extract-dyed, wooden blocks. Believe me, that plastic monstrosity that is our Exersaucer has bought me enough time to clean the kitchen once or twice! But why does everyone think that beeping, blinking, honking, ringing, spinning junk is the only way to go? Maybe because the other stuff is expensive? Maybe it seems boring? Maybe they know that the loud, moving stuff gets the most oohs and ahhs - like how at a baby shower, cute outfits beat out wipes and laundry detergent every time?

With the exception of the Exersaucer, Cassidy's favorite toy so far as been this contraption a friend sent us that consists of stretchy cord, wooden beads and sticks. It's sort of like a ball made out of a web of those cords and wood (see photo below. )It makes no noise and it doesn't move unless she moves it. She loves it so much that she gets so excited while playing with it, she usually hits herself in the eye at some point.



To be clear, I think some of that plastic, beeping stuff is ok. I'm all for a balanced approach. And I get it that some of these toys prompt the little one to do something, teaching them cause and effect. HOWEVER...I think that is part of what bothers me. It's mostly a scam. Two words: Baby Eintein. Talk about false advertising, sheesh. Slap the word "educational" on there and people go crazy for it. There is big money in this stuff. The people at PlaySchool or Fisher Price do not care about my baby. They care about their bottom line. And they've figured out that babies are interested in stuff that makes noise and moves and entertains them. They like it. Guess what? I also really like lasagne, chicken fingers and ice cream but if I decided to subsist on those exclusively, I would also start investing in some seat belt extenders and Lipitor.

I think the bottom line is: just because they like it doesn't mean it's good for them. It also doesn't mean it's necessarily "bad" for them. You won't hear even the strictest of diet gurus tell you to never have a cookie again in your life. But maybe a little more balance? Moderation? I guess the way this is going to work is that most people are going to buy her loud, beepy, honky stuff. And I'll give her my mixing bowls to play with. And my mom will, thankfully, buy diapers.

Jesus Christ is born...and Santa came!

Photos from Christmas morning!

None of us look especially camera-ready so maybe we'll do an afternoon, post-shower shoot, too.