"And How are those Fuzzy Babies of yours Faring?"

This was the first time I caught Owen napping in the bouncy baby chair we keep upstairs... and after I took this picture (and several others), he refused to acknowledge my prodding at him, asking him to leave it. I had to pick him up and set him away from it, and then I had to turn the thing upside-down, as he just made a bee-line right back to it before I could close him out of the baby's bedroom.

I had prepped this bouncy chair for an easy 'baby-from-the-tub' transfer, and as I'd turned around, having just turned off the tub's water faucet, viola! Owen's ready for bathtime (or naptime, rather)!

Whenever we leave town, I have to make an extra effort to kitty-proof all of the baby's things --like her swings, bouncy chairs, crib, bassinet, and her Pack n' Play... This here is her travel bassinet, which we'd taken out in preparation for our last trip to Los Angeles.
After returning from our last trip to LA, apparently my efforts to make the Pack n' Play uninhabitable were futile!

This was taken some time after 1:30 in the morning, May 19th...
I woke up to feed zah bebe and discovered these two were together and glued not only to each other but to my side as well...

And this one taken a moment later, after I'd had to move the two of them in order to reach my lil' babe... They look real upset don't they?

Owen believes this travel swing is HIS! I can fold it up, stack it upside-down, whatever... He finds a way, every time!After folding the first of two loads of our baby girlie's clean clothes, I'd closed the laundry room door specifically to prevent THIS:And that tricot baby blanket? - the one for which I kept stalling on completing its binding, as I'd written about seen HERE, well, Owen is still in love with it. As things heat up here in Vegas, it has basically become his blankey now. This pic was taken on Mother's Day~

She Be Kickin' Mah Butt

My baby is going through a hefty growth spurt... For the past 2 weeks now, she likes to eat nearly every 2 hours during the daytime, which allows baby to have only short naps, which makes for an overtired baby in the evenings, let me tell ya! As for her nighttime feedings, she wakes about every 3 hours, which amounts to about 4-5 hours of sleep for me. Yeah, so my left eye has been twitching for days now. I is a tired mommie!

Fried Chicken n' Waffles, oh Yes!

While my parents were in town for my sister's MSW graduation, they were staying at the Palazzo on the Strip. There was one day during which I was there for both lunch and dinner, and both times, we ate at the Grand Lux Cafe. Hearing 'cafe', I'd thought we'd be eating some casual, simple cafe food... Um, there were truly 'cafe'-esque options on the menu, yes, but it was no ordinary, simpleton experience. Everything was extraordinarily scrumptious, even the fried chicken with waffles was superb! -- I would know, as I had it for lunch AND dinner, it was so freakin' good!

My honey-man had a fabulously nummy broiled pork loin with an apple, cranberry and peach chutney, and a vegetable saute and both garlic mashed potatoes and yummy mashed sweet potatoes

I don't remember what this was called, but it was loaded with fresh grapefruit and avocado and my father loved it

And behold, my nutty pecan fried chicken atop a perfect Belgian waffle with an uber yummy honey butter sauce (not pictured) and warm, pure maple syrup. The waffle had a perfect buttery crispness to its outside, yet a perfect inner texture, light and airy and soft, but not too dry = perfect!

Enjoying My Time

While my baby girlie swings away, blissfully conked out in her battery powered Graco baby swing, I've finally been able to enjoy some time dinkin' around online... although I probably should have showered over an hour ago, or better yet, I should have taken this chance to take a much, much needed nap, as my left eye's been twitching all morning long. I keep thinking though that she'll wake any minute... She'll make some cute lil' noise and stir a bit, and I'll brace myself for more coo-ey noises to be made, followed by some cute grunting and then a sharp lil' squawk that translates into "COME N' GET ME RIGHT NOW, MOMMIE!", signaling my online time must come to an end, but she's been out now for over 2 hours. She's made a couple deep contented breathy sighs since I began writing this lil' blurb of a post... but she's still not yet awake. Should I stop now and dash upstairs for a quick 5 minute shower?

A couple days ago --actually, it was the very night before we were to leave town in the morning for a family wedding in L.A. at Griffith Park-- I had stalled and stalled, thinking I didn't have enough time to shower before our baby girlie would wake and want to be fed before her final bedtime. I finally made a go of it though, and I hopped in the shower. Not only did I have to cut my shower short, I wound up with only one leg shaved (and I hadn't shaved in over a week), and no, I did not get the chance to remedy that before the wedding that following day. Thank goodness the dress I'd chosen to wear was long and lengthy!

Since my baby sweet potato girl's arrival, time has become a most precious commodity - not that it wasn't precious before... but never before now had time truly flown like it now does. And I'd thought the time was soaring past me while I was pregnant? That was nuthin'! I mean time REALLY flies by freakin' fast now, like lightning speed flashes! The day begins and before I know it, it's after three in the afternoon and I have only 3 or 4 hours or so until my honey-man is to return home from work.

I can't believe my baby is nearly 8 weeks old already? I'LL have only a month of maternity leave left... ['SHOUTING-AT-TOP-OF-MY-LUNGS' NOTE TO SELF: STOP THAT RIGHT NOW! THIS VERY INSTANT! DO NOT THINK ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW OR YOU'LL TOTALLY FREAK OUT AND BURST INTO TEARS. AH!-AH! NOOO! NO!!! STAAHHP THAT!] Um, so yeah, she'll be 8 wks old tomorrow, and I had her weighed just yesterday, as I'd already noted. I look through the pictures we took those first days in the hospital, and it's utterly unbelievable how quickly she grows and how much she's changed and developed since we brought her home.

Oh and she's sooooo cute! She cooes, she smiles, she squawks and squeals... And she's seems to be such a pensive little girl already. She'll stare at us and all our fantastical efforts to coax a smile, and then she'll tilt her head to the side while staring some more... then she'll slowly bring her chin downward without breaking eye contact and then she'll suddently throw her chin upward and throw us the cutest lil' toothless smile I've ever laid eyes on!

The days just meld one into the other and I wish with all my heart that time would slow down, please, so I could enjoy this time a little longer, please.

Proper Infant Weight Gain

Just had our baby girlie weighed yesterday at a local women's center - - Yup, she'll be 8 weeks old this coming Thursday (and holy cow, how the time freakin' flies by!) and I was curious about her weight gain and where she is amongst the charts. Keep in mind that less than 2 weeks ago, she weighed in at the peds office at 10 and a half pounds. Well, our lil' chica has gained over a pound in less than 14 days = She now weighs 11 pounds and 12 ounces!! She weighs nearly that of an average 3 month old baby!

Yup, there's no concern now as to whether or not she's been gaining enough weight. Yeah, no concern there at all.

'O' is for Oprah

Today, for the first time in the 6 weeks since we came home from the hospital with our baby sweet potato girl, I found and watched Oprah. Does this make my time spent at home on maternity leave officially complete?

Adoring Grandparents in Town

My sister is graduating with her MSW this weekend, so my parents are in town and we've been, um, a bit busy! What an understatement! Yeah. Not much time for blogging right now... Sooo, may hafta wait until next week for something more substantial than this, sorry!

Generosity from All Sides

One thing that has truly amazed me throughout this experience of having this baby of ours is the profound generosity coming at us from all sides! I had actually been concerned in the early months as to how we were going to acquire all the miscellaneous baby things one needs to raise a wee one - !?! Little did I know we would be showered with all sorts of things, including things we didn't even know we'd need and then some!

These darling, delicate hand-knit cable knit pieces were sent from Montreal from my honey-man's mum:

By the time we're in Montreal for a visit this summer, these will fit perfectly for their cooler nights.

I love how the word 'baby' is written in French!

Over the last couple weeks, my sister has dropped by the house unexpectedly to visit her lil' darling niece annnd she's done so bearing baby gifts, no less! Today, she came by and brought the hilarious 'Tax Deduction' bib, the 'Petal Pusher' to hang from the carrier handle of zah baybee's infant car seat, and the 'I Love My Aunt' magnetic frame (very nyce touch there - ha!). The Einstein Baby 'Photo Album' and the baby girl headbands were from her drop-by the week before... all very cute! Yes! Thank you, Auntie Ryner!

I plan to load this baby photo book with pictures of our baby girlie's out-of-towner grandparents so she can familiarize herself with all their faces.

Thank you to Patty and David for all the darling Carters outfits and the frilly baby girlie sockies!
Carters makes the cutest baby duds! And they're so sturdy too!

I ADORE these little dresses! The rickrack trim sewn on the hem of the lil' green floral dress calls to my own baby dresses, as does the detail on the bodice of this pink dress.

And our baby girlie will be absolutely killer cute in these Carters rompers, with her lil' chubby thighs exposed for proper parental nibbling access.

A ladybug on the bummy! I love it!

And this arrived in the mail from my longest-had childhood playmate, who lives right now in Madrid... I'm certain this lil' stationery card came from her time living in Tokyo though!

She knit this! Yes, she knit this uber, uber, most darling dress herself!
I'm certain that when we're in Montreal this summer, she'll be wearing this lil' number there as well.

She has crayzee mad knitting skillz!

And the same day the lil' knit dress mailed from Madrid arrived, we received this as well:

Thank you, Leslie, for indulging my love of of Beatrix Potter and her Peter Rabbit! Awesome!

And the very same day we received the Beatrix Potter DVD and the lil' knit dress, we received these as well!?!
Thank you again, so very much, Brenda, for these darling and lovingly-made hand knit items! This hat is way too cute!

This blanket is made of yarn made from bamboo! - It's remarkably soft!

And this lil' felted wool ditty bag, well... it's mine for now! Baby girlie can have it later, maybe.

And just today, FOUR MORE packages arrived!?!
The wrapping job on this one, alone, had me cooing.Love these lil' Mary Jane sockies! Thank you, Barbara!And some tees from Melissa Lyn ~ The first is for the angel boy-O...
And these are for our lil sweet potato girl...
All three tees are from Threadless.com ~ Check it out! Fun stuff!!
And this arrived from Auntie Mary P. ~ A classic! ~ She's gunna love it!
And this came from Grammie Joanie today... It means 'Super Mama' in French ~ hee heeThank you again and again to everyone!

Several Posts in the Making but Mah Baby Be Wakin'

I do have several posts under construction right now, but lately, unless her daddy is around to woo her to sleep with his mad, magic 'jello head' skillz, my lil' wee one prefers to fall asleep on me, which has never posed a challenge until this very week. Whenever I move her tiny sleeping form over into the Boppy or the bouncy chair or her bassinet or her Pack n' Play --you get the point-- no matter where I try to leave her for her nappy now, she almost always wakes up after the transfer either within that very minute or 5 minutes later!

Sooo, today, in order for her to get some decent nappy time, this morning I had her swaddled, placed in her Boppy on top of the dryer (while it was running on the 'fluff' cycle), while I folded our clean laundry... and just five minutes ago? Well, I actually resorted to the vacuum cleaner. Yes, the vacuum cleaner. I laid her in her vibrating bouncy chair, popped her binky in her mouth and turned the vacuum cleaner on about a foot n' a half from her head, roaring away. I kid you not, she was out in less than a minute!!! Nevertheless, I let the vaccum run a full two minutes before shutting it off.

She's fast asleep still, so I'm writing this post real quick inbetween mouthfuls from I bowl of cereal I hope to inhale in entirety before she wakes... And if I'm lucky, I also hope to make some more progress with my packing for this weekend in L.A. if she remains asleep.

Yup, we're venturing off to L.A. to see the angel boy-O, who's been involved with the production of a play since January (and it's not a school play - - he's been performing with Equity actors and the like!), and this is its closing weekend, so it's our last chance to see him in action! Sooo, off we go, baby in tow, to L.A.! Wish us luck with the car trip and babe.

Shit - she's waking up! ohh - wait... wait...

*sigh*

Nope, we're still good!

Sounds of Music

One thing I hadn't expected is that I can't really recall many baby/child songs to sing to our lil' babe, other than intsy weensy spider and a Mormon Sunday School song, "Popcorn Popping the Apricot Tree". In the last few days, I've had to resort to Beatles' songs, and this morning it was Oingo Boingo, of all things, and this afternoon, songs from The Sound of Music. Of course, she doesn't seem to care whatever it is I may be singing to her; she seems enthralled regardless, however, I do wish I could remember the many songs my mum once sang to me.

A New First for Owen

I went upstairs to take a shower last Wednesday, and at the top of our stairs, our linen closet was ajar, so I closed it, but then I remembered a set of clean bedsheets waiting in our bedroom to be put away... And look what I found when I opened the linen closet door again - -

"She's Mine Too"

Otis has decided (for now) that our lil' jellybean is a-okay -- he gradually laid claim to her over the past week... This picture was taken on Thursday the 16th.

Losing Track of the Days

I cannot believe our baby girlie is already three weeks old!? BTW, I took her to the peds office for another weigh-in today, and get this [drumroll, please]... In the last week since her 2nd peds appointment --it's been just 8 days-- she gained AN ENTIRE POUND!?! = that's an average of 2 ounces gained each day! TWO OUNCES PER DAY, PEOPLE!?!! And tah think, at some point last week, I was worried she wasn't getting enough to eat! Guess I was worried for nuthin', eh? She's growin' like crazy!

So yeah, she's three weeks old now... Over the last three weeks, especially after we brought our lil' baby home, I've had to seriously modify my expectations in terms of what I think I can (and should) get done in a single day. During the first week, of course, this was expected, and during the second week, still really healing from my c-section (plus that NASTY surprise allergic reaction to the steri-strips glue, what fun), well, there were physical limitations keeping my to-do list ambitions at bay. Over the previous weekend, feeling much better physically, I did become more active, and I did manage to get a number of things done... and then those things caught up to me, and I was exhausted the better part of this week.

I'm one of those personalities that really likes making lists (what an understatement this is), especially to-do lists, and I really like checking things off my lists (another understatement). Over the last three weeks, naturally, my to-do list has only gotten longer and longer, and the checking off of items from the to-do list, um, that's not happenin' so much these days. I've got to be okay with this, and I've been struggling with it over the last couple days. Today I finally came to the realize that my days and nights are now truly subject to a whole new set of standards --intellectually, I already knew this would happen, but I hadn't yet FELT IT until now, baby in arms. Tonight I realized the way in which I measure my days' worth needs to become more dependent upon how well I spent my time with my daughter, and not how well I may manage (or not) to whittle away at some ridiculous to-do list. Again, I knew this already, intellectually, but saying and thinking and then doing are different things.

So yesterday? Yesterday was absolutely wonderful, measuring the day by the 'time-well-spent-with-my-daughter' scale. We slept in together another couple hours after her 7am-ish feeding... I sang some songs to her from the Beatles' Sgt. Peppers album while cleaning up the kitchen... She had her first bath in the big bathtub with mommie... And we had an afternoon nap together on the couch while listening to some mellow Ray Charles tunes... The highlight of that day was definitely the bath though, for sure. Her lil' umbilical cord stumpy had finally fallen off on the 10th, so a real bath became do-able (no more sponge/washcloth baths). And what a lil' water baby she is, man! Nearing the end of bath time together, I gently poured water over her face four separate times, and other than some initially frantic (and adorable) blinking action, she was totally chill about it and she actually cooed the last 2 times I did it. Very promising behavior! At some point, I was holding her lil' head in my hands while supporting her neck and shoulder above the water surface, and I let her little body free float in the water... She closed her eyes, all slow-mo like, and practically purred! Tell me, how can she be so freakin' cute?!?

And today? *sigh* We had another wonderful day together... And again, I'm so dang proud of her ONE POUND gain over the last week!!! Have I mentioned yet that we've decided we're gunna keep her? ~ hee hee

What's in a Name?

Many bloggers have asked me what our baby girlie's name is... well, just as with my honey-man and our angel boy-O, I won't ever be referring to her by her name here - - it's simply an issue of privacy and safety. Speaking of which, at this point in time, my honey-man has requested that I end the posting of our baby sweet potato girl's picture here on my public blog, as she becomes more identifiable as the days pass. Of course, I'm a proud mommie, oh-so eager to show her off, and if I could keep it up, I'd post pictures of her for everyone to see every single day for the rest of her life... such cuteness should be shared! BUHHT if I were to do that, it'll hafta happen via our private family blog from now on. I'm sorry to disappoint, but her safety and security are of greater priority.

If I know ya, but you don't somehow have access to our family blog, please let me know [email me: annejelynn at yahoo dot com], and I'll be sure to grant you access to our private 'Vegas or Bust' blog.

Thank you for your enthusiasm, your support and your understanding ~

Day 14: Two Weeks Outta dah Womb

As of last Thursday (or does one count from the first full day after the birth, in which case, Friday?), our baby sweet potato girl is two weeks old!?! and I cannot believe it. Where does the time go? I kid you not, we were in the hospital only yesterday! The days just FLY BY now, more than ever before. The concept of time hardly exists. I can only measure the days by checking against the dates on the photos I take, oh, and having a calendar handy is essential now, speaking of which, today is Monday - ?!? oh yeah, that makes sense... was Easter Sunday just yesterday.

I now spend my days staring at mah baby girlie in total awe of her. I feed her every 2 to 4 hours (or every 5 hrs at night), and we change her diapers [BRAVO TO MAH HONEY-MAN, who dutifully changes diapers without a word of complaint! He VOLUNTEERS to do so! Bless him!], and we give her a bath, and we swaddle her, and we help her fall asleep when she needs our help... and we talk to her, and we sing to her, and we baby-talk her to death as well... and we stare at her... oh, do we stare at her, gaze at her, adore her. And we thank our lucky stars that she is whole and healthy, and she is eating (what a lil' piglet!) and sleeping so well, and she's growing like a lil' weed and changing by the hour!! We feel so blessed and fortunate to have her. I tear up at least once a day, so grateful for such a miraculous and wonderful, precious lil' gift.

This here is my honey-man's favorite onesie for her to wear, although the kid's got nearly enough clothes to last her a month without wearing anything twice!

At her 2nd peds appointment for her two weeks check up and weigh in - - She'd grown a 1/2 inch in that last week and she put on 2.5 more ounces. I love her lil' chinny chopper in this shot! She was just about to do a big 'both-arms-above-the-head' stretch here.

Trying out the 'Snug n' Tug' swaddler ~ and she's snug as a bug!
(Where does that expression come from? - anyone know?)

Really wish this was in sharper focus...