A Trip to Storyville

We celebrated Sophie's half birthday yesterday with a trip to Storyville at the library. We met Sophie's friends Lucy (8 months) and Gwen (almost 3!) there, who were of course brought by their mommy (and my friend), Chrissy. Storyville is a really great place for kids to play and be introduced to books. They also have a special area just for little babies. No surprise, there aren't many books in that area, but lots of fun things for babies to look at and touch. I should start by saying that Storyville is a pretty popular place. There was a wait to get in - a little throwback to my clubbing days. Of course the bouncer in this case was a 70 year old lady who could probably stare down a Hells Angel, but I doubt she would get far in a rumble. I was pretty sure I could take her, but I decided to be a good example for my daughter and wait my turn. (I love this picture because Sophie has a "caught in the act" look about her.)

Sophie spent most of the time watching the other kids run around, kicking her little legs and waving her arms around like she wanted to play with them. I think it was a really good experience for her to see other kids playing. That's one of my big worries staying home with her is that she won't be as socialized as kids who go to day care. I do try to get her in situations with other babies regularly, but I'm not sure it's the same as spending all day with them. (That's Lucy showing off her legs.)

At any rate, it was a good time and we'll definitely be going back to Storyville.

Six Mois Aujourd'hui

Sophie is six months today - my goodness the time has flown. I still feel like she’s that miniature human we brought home from the hospital but she’s turning into a kid, albeit a slobbering, completely irrational one. True to form, here is her much anticipated six month picture. I put the bumper back on to get perspective, otherwise she now sleeps in a bare crib. So very blah - I want frills, frill, frills! Oh well. See how much she's changed since she was five months old.

She loves standing these days. I can’t hold her on my lap for long without her pushing back because she wants to stand. She does a pretty good job of pulling herself up from a sitting position to a standing one, with a little help from mommy, of course. I'll try to get a video of it, because she looks so pleased with herself afterwards that you can't help but smile with her and I'm all for more smiles.

Meanwhile she is still chewing on everything. This morning I was watching her attack the attachments on her exersaucer and the zeal with which she went after them caused a flashback to the other night when we were watching Resident Evil 3: Extinction (don’t ask, Neil picked it). The way the zombies in that movie behaved reminds me just a bit of Sophie. They would crane their necks and flail their arms in their quest to get at the throats of their intended victims with a single minded focus. Watching Sophie, she does pretty much the same thing. Although her victims are plastic thingamajigs, not humans, fortunately. She hasn’t gone for my throat yet, but I’m keeping an eye on her.

Mammom and Grandy stopped by for a visit yesterday. Although it was a rocky start, Sophie warmed up after a bit. I think she has some separation anxiety issues. I have to admit a tiny little part of me loves it that she likes being held by me the best. Am I subconsciously encouraging her? I swear I don't chant "ONLY MOMMY, ONLY MOMMY!" when its just the two of us. It will be nice when she gets to be a bit more comfortable being held by other people, though.

Future All American

When we found out we were having a girl, I was happy. Secretly, I had been hoping it would be a girl. As one myself, and with only sisters, I have a much better understanding of the workings of the female anatomy and mind than of the male. In addition to the fact that girls have much cuter clothes. I am literally frothing at the bit to get Sophie in her less functional and more frilly outfits. However, I know that Neil had dreams of playing ball in the backyard with junior.

So that day walking out of the hospital after the sonogram, I asked him if he was disappointed. I knew that even if he was, he wouldn't say it, but I figured I could read his mood by the tone of his response if not the actual words. True to his ever optimistic form, he said that he was just happy that everything was okay and that there was no rule he couldn't play ball with a daughter. He finished up by saying that he would just have to learn the rules of girl's Lacrosse, a sport he played growing up and still enjoys. And by enjoy, I mean absolutely fanatical about. I, for one, don't get it at all. We didn't have it in Kansas and despite having attended a number of our nephew Zack's games, I still don't quite understand the positions and rules. However, he loves it and thanks to Miss Debbie, Sophie has the beginnings of what will no doubt be a not inconsiderable wardrobe of lacrosse themed apparel.

Meanwhile, I don't think a daddy could love his daughter more than Neil does. She absolutely has him wrapped around her little finger. He lives for her smile (as do I) and would do anything to make her happy. In the end, she's just about the best thing to ever happen to us. Well, her and Tivo.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!!

My boys in blue pulled out the National Championship last night! It was a really exciting game, so close throughout the whole thing. We went up to watch it in bed after halftime. While Neil fell asleep pretty quickly, I stayed up. I spent the last few minutes literally crouched on the bed with the bedsheets clutched in my hands. I woke the baby up with my shouting, "Oh, my God!" after they scored the 3 pointer to tie and go into overtime. I know there was some serious celebrating in Lawrence last night and probably today, too. I wish I had a cute little KU outfit for Sophie, but I don't. So her bunny outfit will have to do.

Babies and Bagels (cont'd)

Here are some more pictures from Babypalooza:



If anyone wants any of these, let me know and I'll send you the originals.

Gotta go cheer for my Jayhawks!!

Babies and Bagels

We had the first, of I hope many, baby breakfasts yesterday. I have vowed that I will host one myself soon. Nicole, Ben's mommy (far right), was kind enough to have us all over. The rest of the babies are (from left to right): Will, Lucy, Will, and Kyleigh. It was great to spend time with my mommy friends and dish about all the crazy stuff we go through. Not to mention just nice to spend some time with the girls, something that doesn't seem to happen as often as I would like now that baby made three.

In a crazy turn of events, about half the people we know all had babies within a few months of us. Usually you only see that sort of thing after a blizzard or a blackout, but no babymaking weather phenomenon last winter, just amazing timing. Good for Sophie, she has lots of future playmates right about her age. Although the logistics of photographing six infants at the same time where none were crying or fussing or squirming seemed overwhelming, we did manage to get a few good group shots of the wee ones.

When Neil saw this picture he said, "who's that boy making time with our girl?" I love it because it looks like they're having individual conversations while we were getting ready to take their picture. I try to imagine what they might be talking about: diaper rash creams, the relative merits of the different diaper brands, room temperature vs chilled teething toys, maybe even the election or world peace. Ah, from the mouths of babes...

Open Mouth, Insert Everything

We've gotten to the point where EVERYTHING goes into Sophie's mouth. I had one of those idiot "aha" moments yesterday. After two days of changing her clothes three times a day and rubbing Desitin on a rash on her little chest, both the result of her constantly wet shirts, it finally dawned on me to put a bib on her. Up until now, I haven't had much use for any of her bibs, since she's still and exclusively getting her ale straight from the tap, but I'm calling them into service now. They serve two purposes: they give her something to chew on other than her shirt and they catch the copious amounts of drool that pour out of her mouth.

I have a feeling I won't be getting many pictures of the lower portion of her face for a while.

Which Way to Earth?

It must be pretty amazing to be in a world where your greatest discovery this week is your own feet. Sophie spends a lot of time with her right thumb (or whole hand) in her mouth and her other hand holding on to her left foot. I guess just making sure it's still there.

All right. I'm a bit of a sci-fi geek, but I know I'm not the only one who is crazy frakking excited about the return of Battlestar Gallactica tonight. Not to mention the opportunity to say frak all the time. The cliffhangers they left us with at the end of last season, A YEAR AGO, were pretty wild. Is Starbuck alive? Is she a cylon? And what about the four just revealed cylon models? And who is the last one? And does Baltar really think he's Jesus?

I have to admit that when they first announced they were doing a BSG reboot, I was not at all enthused. Pretty much every one of the old TV shows that have been made into new series or movies have been pretty bad. Witness: Starsky and Hutch, Bionic Woman, etc. However, I figured I would give it a go, because it was the Sci-Fi channel, which has some pretty good original programming (Oh, that Richard Dean Anderson). And now I am totally hooked. But they make us wait SOOOO long between seasons. If this show were even the tiniest bit less good, I would stop watching in protest.

Anyways, you know where we'll be tonight at 10pm(!).

Bathing Beauty

We had our second Mommy and Me swim class yesterday. So far Sophie has been a real trooper. She didn't cry at all during the first class and yesterday she only cried a little bit after I dunked her for the third time. She gave me "the pout" after the second dunk and I knew I was really pushing my luck with the third. But I'm a risk taker, what can I say, I had to go for lucky number three. Maybe next time she'll be okay with it. The instructor said that the hardest part for the mommies was having to watch our babies sputter and sometimes cry as they adjust to the water. Amen to that, sister. She is one of the youngest kids in the class and I was really proud at how well she took to the water. When older babies were crying, she just watched them like, "wusses." I was afraid that she would be traumatized from the first session and would be like the cats whenever I try to get them in their carriers, all four limbs spread out as we went through the door, but she was surprisingly calm. (Above photo: "Go ahead, make my day!")

And the good news is that most of the other mommies were not size 2s. I went shopping for a new swimsuit the other day and got one of those tankinis. Sounds like a yummy drink, doesn't it? First off, it was in a size that is painful to even think about, let alone say out loud. Aparna was like, "boy, don't you hope that's too big." And the answer to that is yes, and unfortunately, it wasn't. Now, I love the idea of the tankini, the coverage of a one piece with the convenience of a two piece. However, unless you have rock hard abs, which I don't...yet, the waistband pinches in and then you get the always attractive cinched in look. The tag said it was a "waist minimizer." As far as I can tell, the only part it minimized was under that one inch band of elastic. I've found that if I stick my chest out as far as it will go, it elongates my torso and somewhat eliminates this. Of course, I can't breath and I generally forget to hold it in about 10 seconds after I step away from a mirror, but I feel somewhat better about my appearance. Oh well, I'm hoping Sophie looked so cute (and doesn't she!!) that no one noticed my Un-gelina Jolie body.

Sexy Pig

I would like to add this to the Hall of Fame of Unusual Gifts. It sings a song and if you pull its tail, it squeals. Gomez hates it and beats up on it mercilessly. The pig is only slightly smaller than the cat, nonetheless, he carries it around the house by the ear or the scruff of its neck. The other day I approached the slightly ajar basement door as I heard a bumping sound. I stopped, trying to figure out what it was, and at that moment out came the pig, snout first, pushed by Gomez on his way to taking it upstairs. I later found it sitting, or more accurately, standing at the top of the stairs pointed towards Sophie's room. That was a tiny bit creepy, actually.

Notice my awesome tile job???