Sophie Saturday!

After much teasing, I present the Great Finger Beebler:

That smile on Aaron's face when she starts beebling is the very essence of love. You can almost feel his heart expanding.

And just to prove, for all time, that she really does adore her Daddy. Because I'm sure there is going to be a point in her teen years when she is mad at him and certain that she doesn't like him. And we will pull out this video and prove her wrong. Notice I didn't say that she will be mad at me. She will never, ever be mad at me. Future Sophie? You may think you are mad at me, but you are mistaken.

This video is also proof that you like to chomp on noses.

My lovely sister gave us her Fisher Price Little Tikes garden thingy. It is now no longer on the market for reasons unknown and my sister got hers on eBay. Oh, glorious eBay - finder of lost toys. It is awesomeness personified (objectified?). The big chunky vegetables! The big pieces of mail! The tweeting bird thingy! The doorway she will crawl through at some point!

Reading time with Daddy:

And then Aaron made us switch just so at least one photo on the camera was of me with Sophie. Because we are not above staging photos with our baby.

The blurred movement lines? Proof that she just whomped me in the crotch. I could have been in Hotlanta getting drunk off my ass, but I canceled my tickets and decided to stay home and, for my troubles and dedication as a mommy, I get whomped in my privates. You're all jealous, aren't you?

And, finally, I leave you with the tallest baby in the world! You may ask yourself, but she isn't she backwards? And no baby could possibly be that tall? To which I say: you are being way too literal. Just look at the cuteness! And not the weird backwards baby!

As always, click on the photos for more.

Friday!

Today I have 3 meetings that are going to drain me of all my energy but I don't care because the weekend is peeking its big, sunny head over the horizon.

Photos and videos tomorrow of The Great Beebler.

Oy

For my coworker who has mentioned to me twice that I need to write something today even though I KNOW she has a lot of work to do, including a couple of projects with my name on them.

Let's see...

Sophie is cute. We have video of her finger beebling in response to our beebling. It is the most hilarious thing you have ever seen. But it is still on our camera. Also on the camera? Absolutely adorable photos of the cutest baby in the world.

Veronica Mars was great last night. Heartbreaking with Logan and Veronica because I was really hoping they would get back together. What is going on with the Mayor? And there is a school shooting? Does Jackie get shot? Who leaked the info on her dad? No Weevil this week? Whatever happened to Wallace's mom, by the way? Where is he living? With her? I guess she and Keith broke up? Why would Meg's parents bail out the janitor? Oh, what a tangled web this show weaves.

See, oh beautiful coworker, now I've written something and you don't even watch that show. ;) And now for something that you and I have already discussed:

I'm almost finished with my May color-iffic swap-o-rama gift package. The colors this month are orange and yellow. Orange, I don't mind, but yellow? Not a color I would choose on my own. I decorated a box again and it looks faboo. I also made another little wire ornament/mobile thingy and it's very pretty. Notice there are no photos. That's because they are in my head and not even in the camera yet.

In other news, Sophie is a big, heavy wriggle-monkey machine. We are both going to earn black belts in baby wrasslin'. When I got home from work yesterday, Aaron looked completely shell-shocked.

6 Month Pediatrician Appointment

As the title states, today was Sophie's 6 month appointment. The doctor said she is "excellent". For those keeping track, she is 27" long (do we say 'tall' at this point?) and 18 pounds 5 oz. 95th and 90th percentiles.

I took the day off. Partly because the immunizations tend to give her a fever and I want to be the kind of Mommy who is home when her daughter isn't feeling well. Also, my work is pretty generous with vacation/personal time and since I didn't get the desired maternity time off (due to bed rest, etc.), I'm taking the time now. So there.

She did end up getting feverish and upset and it is just heartbreaking to observe. Aaron had a dentist appointment this afternoon and when he got back, we went on a long walk with her in the Bjorn to get some movies (Pride and Prejudice and Capote). The Tylenol has kicked in and she's actually in a pretty good mood. Squealing for Otto and trying to scooch her way over to him.

I forgot to mention earlier that we watched Domino and lordy, what a crappy movie. I think maybe, at some point, it might have been a decent movie, but then the editing was all over the place and frantic and trying to be edgy and it completely ruined it. Also? Mickey Rourke is creepy. Aaron made me look up the director (Tony Scott) so that we would never have to watch one of his movies again.

Dear Mr. President

What better way to celebrate Sophie's 1/2 year birthday than to play a video of Pink performing "Dear Mr. President". I love Pink. The woman can sing and she's not afraid to speak her mind. I'm going to buy her new CD. And the new Dixie Chicks CD. These women need to be supported for having the balls to speak out.

Six Months!

Sophie, my beautiful wiggly girl, you turned 6 months today. Where did the time go? On Thursday night, you slept from 8pm to 5am - causing panic in your father and I when we woke up and realized the time.

And then on Friday night you woke up pretty much every two hours. So it might possibly have been a fluke.

We have started, slowly feeding you some solid foods. And by solid, I mean pureed and watery. Although we did take your aunt and uncle's idea of giving you a dried (and organic) peach top to gnaw on while we are cooking our dinner and you are fussy and impatient. It is amazing how long that keeps you occupied. You love to grab the spoon from us and try to feed yourself. With mixed results.

So far, we have tried peas, brown rice mash, beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, pears, bananas and then this morning, because you haven't pooped in two days and normally we could set our watches to your, um, movements, prunes with oats. Oh yeah. We are still waiting to see what kind of raging inferno that unleashes.

Now that you can sit up pretty well on your own, bath times have become more fun for you. Daddy will bring you into the bath with him and you will play and play with the cups and bath books and water. You've just recently discovered the joy of splashing and your daddy is right that I shouldn't have laughed because that is only going to encourage you.

You've moved from the blah, blah, blahs, to duh, dah, da! Daddy keeps getting excited because he thinks you are trying to say "daddy", but I know better. You are going to wait until you can say "mommy" before you start talking.

We have been slowing introducing sign language to you. So far, the repertoire is "milk" and "bath" and "kitty cat" and "mother" and "father". We both swear that you made the milk sign yesterday after I asked you if you were hungry. We looked at each other in amazement because wow, you are smart. Or very good at imitating. Whatever, I'm going with very smart.

You are a rolling machine. It is now taking two of us to change your diaper because you refuse to just sit still one moment, please just stop twisting, Sophie, please hold still, geez, please just one second, if you would just stay still, this wouldn't take so long. You can also roll from one end of our bed to the other and scooch yourself in circles on your stomach. Yes, we are in trouble.

You are also doing the finger mouth buh, buh, buh thing (Daddy is calling in the "finger beeble") and it is hilarious when you stop rolling and squirming and instantly look very serious and then beeble, beeble, beeble with your finger on your lips and then you move on again. It's like you had a sudden urge to just get that goofiness out of you because you have more important things to stick in your mouth. You should know that every single time you do it? Daddy's heart grows that much bigger.

Still no teeth. Lots of drool, lots of gnawing, no teeth.

Hmm, Mommy just keeps writing, doesn't she?

We love the fact that you are so active and squirmy and curious and funny and loud and smiley. But, we also really love it when you finally go to sleep. You are the most gorgeous baby in the world and we love you to bits.

To hold you over

Today is not only Sophie Saturday but also the day that Sophie turns 6 months! Happy 1/2 Birthday! We are heading out shortly so I will have photos and more later.

As the title says, to hold you over, here are some juicy little blind items from popbitch (my guesses in the comments):

>> Big Questions <<
Who people are renting this week

1. Buff queens in LA's Crunch gym are gossiping
that which family-guy actor is on a mission
to hire black rentboys and get them to hunt
him across jungle-like rough terrain?

2. Which celebrity chef is an unlikely but keen
user of one of London's hottest rent boys?

3. Which schmaltzy Hollywood funnyman used to
love to hire young, tanned, Mediterranean
boys to accompany him on set? The actor
was known for treating his twinks well and
stayed friendly with them for years.

Your thoughts? Keep in mind that popbitch is based out of the UK.

Milestone? Reached.

Sophie slept through the night last night. She went down around 8pm and then this morning I was awoken by Aaron sitting up and saying: "HolyShitIt'sFiveWhere'sTheBaby?!" (Not how you want to be waken up, by the way). So I ran into the nursery and there she was. Asleep. And then stirring, because I had to touch her to make sure she was breathing. I brought her back into our room and we hugged her and snuggled.

And then I realized that I have not had a stretch of uninterrupted sleep like that since, maybe, my first trimester of pregnancy. Over a year, people.

It may be the peas/carrots/sweet potatoes we've been feeding her. Or the fact that when Aaron put her in the crib, she rolled over onto her stomach and stayed on her stomach all night. Or, she's just at that point in her life.

We are so proud.

Spring Cleaning

I'm playing around with categorizing my posts, so if things go all funky and broken, that is why.

In other news, I have a raging headache and it is making me nauseous. I've been drinking water, eating, not stressing but it is not helping. This Tylenol better work or I'm going to reach into my ear and punch my brain.

Online Shopping

Here's a tip: when you are going to shop online, go to naughtycodes.com first. They have an enormous list of online shopping sites and the coupon/promotional codes that are currently valid for that store. I just saved $8 on an order of jeans because I checked there first. That's what? A gallon of gas?

Highly recommend. Two thumbs up.

More Easter Photos

She has the legs of a shrunken elephant. And I mean that in the best possible way:

I think Aaron is in LOVE:

Poor little Sophie Giraffe.

First, she is eaten by a wild Snow Pea:

And then summarily abandoned:

As always, if you click on any of those photos, there are lots more on flickr.

Tonight is stamp night with the ladies. I think I'm going to make some Congratulations! New Baby! cards because we're having a mini baby boom in our immediate circle.

Blogging Baby

One of our Sophie photos is the Image of the Day on Blogging Baby!

Easter recap

What a whirlwind weekend. I guess I say that every time, don't I? When you throw 4 kids and lots of adults into one house for a weekend, it's bound to be a bit of a tornado, isn't it? We realized on the way home that we left my mom with a bit of a mess at the house since everyone left right after lunch. Mom, sorry about that. It was fun and it's always good to see everyone. Lots of laughing and good food and farting. And poop stories and burping. Wish you were there, don't you?

I'll have photos tonight. I did post some photos my sister took to flickr.

In other, big, news: Aaron has accepted a teaching assistantship at UMass for the Fall. Which means he will be working towards his PhD in Mathematics and that we are going to be staying in the area for 5 years or so. Which means that one day Sophie can call him Dr. Dad. And that we can start looking into buying a house now that we know we will be here for a while. This also means he will be paid a little bit and not have to pay tuition. Woot!

Also? Sophie is bored with your no commenting. Please, for the love of all that is good in the world, make her smile again.

Sophie Saturday!

Eating food for the first time. Bananas and brown rice ‘cereal’.

Rolling with her moo cow:

That was exhausting.

I couldn't resist. Look at these yummy feet!

As always, click on any of the above photos for more. Wrists! More sleeping baby! More yucky food faces!

Day Off!

My company had Good Friday off. I guess the owners are Catholic? I don't know. Anyhoo, we went on a long trek around town with Sophie in the backpack and then worked on the garden and then just in general hung out and zerberted and giggled and rolled around. We are headed up to my parents' house for Easter/Passover. I will have Sophie Saturday! photos tomorrow. Possibly a video.

To hold you over, and because I think we need to remind ourselves, Idiot Son of an Asshole. If you are at work, you might want to turn down the sound. Or turn it up and dance around, depending on where you work.

Hypothetically speaking

Let's just say, for the sake of an argument, that I may or may not have a coworker who is getting on everyone's nerves. Or everyone's last nerves. He or she may or may not have been very annoying and intolerable to me in the past, but that has subsided now that he or she has a different position within the company.

He or she is now, hypothetically, aggravating another group of coworkers by sending emails to management about how people in their department (of FOUR people) are leaving food and dishes on their desks.

He or she doesn't have the balls to just say to the person with the dishes - hey, dude, can you just put that away when you're done?

Instead, he or she hypothetically sends an email to management with wording such as: (the following phrases may or may not have actually been in an email to management): "Personally, I have found the smell and general presence of these leavings to be an impediment to completion of day-to-day tasks", and/or: "Below find three suggested behavioral adjustments that I believe would help make the work environment functional and respectful". And then he or she, hypothetically, goes on to LIST ways to deal with the issue. With bullet points and numbering. Hypothetically.

How do you deal with someone like that?

Wellness Day

I took the afternoon off from work yesterday. My intention was just to go home for lunch to say hello and refresh my mug of coffee. But then it was in the 60s and we were out discussing all the raking/pruning/dealing with the garden and Aaron was looking quite over-tired and Sophie was quite cranky (she's pooping every other day for some reason; not at all typical) and over-tired. So I made the executive decision to stay home. And then shooed Aaron out of the house to talk to his advisor because it had been weighing on him and I took Sophie upstairs, fed her and then we promptly fell asleep for almost two hours. Ah, bliss.

We both woke up in good moods and I decided to drag the exersaucer outside so that she could watch while I raked and pruned. The garden has TONS of peonies and their leaves are toxic to other plants. So you can't add them to the normal mulch pile. Which means, also, that they should have been pruned before winter but I was, first, very pregnant and then with a little baby and it just didn't get done. And now we don't want the mold to harm the baby peony sprouts. Anyhoo, long story short, all that detritus needs to be raked and and snipped and packed in trash bags.

Aaron returned from discussing future grad school plans with his advisor and joined us in the front yard. Sophie entertained herself for over an hour and then we all headed inside. We got maybe a fifth of the yard done. The plan is to spend Friday (which I get off) working on it again. I get Good Friday off. I'm not Catholic. I don't get MLK's birthday off, but I do get Columbus Day. Strange.

This weekend we are heading up to my parents' house for an Easter/Passover celebration which involves mucho foodo and egg painting and egg hiding and finding and hiding and finding. Possibly a hike into the woods using the backpack.

Weekend Recap

Whew, what a whirlwind. My friend, M, came up to visit with her 3.5 year old, D. I went to middle and high school with M and we were Girl Scout (Brownies? Was I in the Girl Scouts?) pen pals before that. There is something so comforting and easy about spending time with someone with whom you have been through a LOT. Since my mom reads this blog, I can't really go into detail, but suffice it to say that we have weathered storms together. M was my big musical/play competition. She can sing like nobody's business and we were always up for the same roles (which should not be interpreted that I can sing). In middle school, this was not a problem because the director was smart and had two sets of leads. M would do one night and I would do the other. High school got more competitive and I don't think either of us got the lead. Anyhoo, yes, I was a drama geek.

Her daughter, D, is the smartest 3.5 year old I've ever met. She has an incredible vocabulary and she's very imaginative. And very sweet. She was very into Sophie - lots of hugs and pats and kisses. I've realized that I need to get on with the baby-proofing of the house. Not that D was interested in my trinkets, etc., but my god, the tornado that blew through the house! Every book pulled from the shelves (she loves M reading to her); every toy inspected. I had big-ish plans for dinner and then we got involved with reading (well, Sophie and I were listening to M read every single book in the house). (M has the patience of a saint) (and she has this aura of calm about her) (although she would probably deny this and tell me I'm crazy) (but that's why I love her). I've also realized that I'm not ready for a toddler. It was exhausting. M and I caught up while talking over the din of toddler-hood neediness. Sophie was also quite vocal so I'm sure it was a funny scene if you were a fly on the wall. Very noisy.

I tried giving Sopher some treats to lick and mash. We tried a sweet potato mash-up on Saturday night along with a pear to molest. And then yesterday for dinner, Sophie and I had a banana and I made some baby rice with ground up brown rice. What a mess! She liked patting the mashes and once, when I attempted to give her a spoonful, she delicately grabbed the mash off the spoon and spread it all over her face. She did not like getting the banana into her mouth and swallowing it. She did like tongue-ing it. This stage is all about experimenting anyway. Get a feel for tastes and textures.

So, all this baby mashing is quite messy and sticky. What is your ritual for getting a baby clean afterwards? I pulled the tray off the highchair and wet some paper towels and attempted to get the gruel off of her.

And then ended up taking her in the shower with me because the paper towel just wasn't cutting it. Let's just say that she did not like the shower. Too much splattering of water. She didn't cry, but that girl can register displeasure like nobody's business.

We did have a great weekend. Aaron was gone both days, all day, playing war games with his miniatures. He ended up winning 'best painted army' at the tournament. It was fantastice to reconnect with M and watch how she interacts with her daughter. D's outstanding vocabulary is due, in part, to how M talks to her and also their shared love of reading. It was a good weekend for the Snopher and I as well. Sophie and I bonded and snuggled and I ate her up. I know you all love her, but she was just too yummy and I couldn't resist.

Sophie Saturday!

First off, some photos. We got two GINORMOUS bags of clothes from my sister. Hand-me-downs from our niece.

This is one of the new oufits. What you can't see is that the pants have black racer stripes down the sides.

And then because she just didn't have enough cute outfits, I had to go and buy an adorable surfer romper.

And now, video.

Sophie is teething. And multi-tasking. Because, really? Who wouldn't want a soundtrack for teething?

And if that wasn't enough cuteness for you, here's Sophie demonstrating her new trick. With help from her daddy. She tries to do this herself, but she doesn't quite have the coordination down.

Cookie Thief

OMG, this is the cutest thing I've seen all day. For reals; no zombies. A bunny stealing a cookie.

The Beard

has been shaved off in a fit of...well, something. Not sure. I'm a little sad.

TMI

Yesterday I made it to work by 7am and was waiting for the highly caffeinated coffee to lift the fog from my brain when I realized I forgot to replenish my bra with new breast pads. In the time Before Sophie (B.S.), I always wore padded bras. Not so much to enhance my meager cleavage, but to try and contain the gumdrop-sized nipples. Or maybe mini marshmallows. Not quite full marshmallows. Anyhoo. Now, A.S., I have found that the most comfortable and easy nursing bra is my Bravado. (here's a photo of me wearing just the Bravado) However, it is not padded. The breast pads add a level of nipple coverage that suffices. In most warm and not bouncing occasions. Yesterday? Yeah, it was a bit obscene. I tried my best to not wander around the office too much because that was just enough movement to wake up the nipples and remind them of their freedom. Once they are awake and pointing things out to me: "hey, did you see that plant? Ooh, and watch out for that copier!", they could be seen from space.

I felt naughty. All day. In kind of a good way.

Dead Like Me, etc.

So I know some of you have watched 'Dead Like Me'. We are almost done with Season 2 and I'm getting anxious because I know that was the last season. Which I don't get. Why do these interesting and quirky shows always get canceled? And drek like 'According to Jim' or 'Two and a Half Men' stay on forever. I could go on watching these characters for years.

Here's the question: when the asshole tv producer dies, why does a graveling appear? Is it because he was killed by a reaper? Or because he was evil? If this gets answered in the last 3 episodes, let me know. They are next on the list from Netflix.

In other news, a friend from high school is going to be visiting this weekend with her little daughter. Sleepover! Yeeps! I'm excited to see her. It's been way too long. And I flaked the last time the girls got together.

Aaron is going to be fighting with his little German army in some WWII tournament all weekend so it is a perfect time to catch up with her.

ANTM and Veronica Mars

So, the collapsing Tyra incident ended up just being an 'acting' lesson. This week's episode found Jade even more psychotic and useless. She couldn't handle the challenges and then still remained on the show! They have to be keeping her on for the drama. Because there is no way she is going to win this. Everyone else on the show is so low drama that it would probably be fairly boring without her. They are trying to make Nnenna out to be a mankiller or something. I'm sad Molly Sue is gone because I think she is quite pretty. This whole - you need to show your personality - thing. I just don't get it. I thought she was a lot less boring than some.

And then Veronica. Whatever is Logan going to do with the mayor's signature stamp? Besides get himself the sheriff's parking space (which - ha!). Furonda wasn't bad on the show but she is still quite funny looking. (she surprised me on ANTM as well - she came off as smart and funny during the challenges) Will Logan and Veronica end up back together? Did Thumper die in the building demolition? Why are the Fitzpatricks almost caricatures? Why did the mayor take the DVD back of someone creeping through his house? Blackmail? Interesting, all of it. What was Beaver's issue? Mac is adorable. Also, good for Jackie for trying to improve her image around school.

Pepper Dennis

The new show with Rebecca Romijn. It was entertaining. Not quite my cup of tea, but she's very good at the physical comedy. Other thoughts? Um, the supposedly handsome new anchor has weird ears. And a skinny head. Nice six-pack, though. Also, Rebecca's BFF makeup person is Steve Sander's wife from 90210. And Brooke Burke was a bit awkward, but otherwise fun to watch.

Not sure if I'll watch it again, but I think others will like it.

Snoozing

Just to prove that Aaron is not the only one who snoozes with Sophie:

Also, I finished my April Coloriffic Swap-o-rama gift. It is being sent to Portugal. Hopefully today.

The box is hand-painted and decorated. There is also a necklace and some earrings that I made. The rest are crafty things and candy.

In other news, ESTELLA IS PREGNANT!!! Go tell her congratulations! I'm so excited for her. you broke the zombie site. Sophie says: "bah, bah, bah."

Baby-led Introduction to Solid Foods

I found this guide to baby-led introduction to solid foods very interesting. This is the approach I'd like to take with Sophie. I don't believe the 'only introduce rice cereal' theory, personally.

I eat a variety of foods - spicy, garlicky, sweet - and she definitely gets those tastes when she nurses. Also, the belief that you shouldn't introduce fruit because babies will develop a preference for sweets is, to me, bunk science. Have you ever tasted breastmilk? It's extremely sweet. Same with formula, from my understanding.

Instead of processed rice cereal, we're going with whole grain baby cereal. And sweet potatoes and avocados and pears and bananas. Not all at once, but just to give her a taste of different things. The approach at this point will also be to give her what we are eating. Let her play with it, taste it, mouth it. The Dutch approach (link at the top) recommends not spoon feeding your baby because the initial introduction to foods should be an experiment for the baby. And then still breastfeed for at least the full year.

So, that's the plan. Just not yet.

(Dutch link via Ask Moxie. That Ask Moxie link is also very informative. I love her site and her no-nonsense approach.)

Added: here's a link to introducing solids for allergic infants. Neither Aaron nor I have food allergies, but I think that table is a good chart for babies in general.

April Fool's

Normally I would have had a big plan for April Fool's. I've gotten Aaron too many times to count and this would have been a great weekend because we were going to be at my sister's house and her husband is a notorious trickster. And they had prepared their kids for my arrival. However? My heart wasn't in it. I had been trying to think of something big to get back at my coworker for his very creative prank last year and then I realized that April Fool's fell on Saturday. And it's not exactly a day you can move up to fit into a work week schedule. I considered short-sheeting my nephew's bed, putting fake bugs in the brownies (except we ate all the brownies before the kids woke up), Vaselining the toilet seat cover (but ugh, what a mess), etc., etc. In the end, I did nothing.

However, we did have a lovely weekend. Aaron went into NYC to return a camera for my brother and look around a bit and I went to my nephew's first baseball game of the season with Sophie.

It was exhausting at first:

And then there were hats!

Sunday included lounging and a walk to the local beachfront park.

As always, click on any of those photos for more.