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A rainy Saturday with friends
March 18, 2010 at 10:37 pm
On Saturday morning, Sylvie and Julia (almost 1!) had a play date. They showed off their crawling skills for each other while we moms chatted about our dwindling patience with cloth diapers and our frustration with the still-too-expensive real-estate market. A brief nap in the car later, and we reconvened with the families from our Natural Childbirth class (a year ago at this point!) at Julie, Dave, and Gabe’s house. We shared a sushi bonanza and compared developmental notes while the babies descended on Gabe’s toys like little vultures. Luckily, he was a very gracious host. It was a lovely day. And to think, we met all of these parents before the babes had even made their way into the world! Kids are even better than puppies at facilitating new friendships!
Oh, and Miss Sylvie managed to give herself her first shiner while showing off her pulling-up skills at Gabe’s. Crazy kid.
"Quick, the grown-ups are looking at us. Act innocent!"
Julia modeling her homemade booties
Just chillin'
Miriam and Norah, holding hands and being adorable
Mmm, phthalates.
Luke bellies up to the bar for some banana puffs
The spread
Loving Gabe's yoga ball. We just may have to bring ours back up from the basement.
The result of partying too hard
Wordless Wednesday: Sunny Saint Patty’s Day Swing Edition
March 17, 2010 at 9:26 pm
Wordless Wednesday: Nine Months Ago Edition
March 10, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Dear Sylvie (at 9 months)
March 8, 2010 at 10:55 am
Dear Handsome,
Yes, I called you “handsome.” Your daddy started calling you that one day after saying you looked “handsome in your pants,” and it stuck. Despite my protests that girls aren’t handsome, and that it was a weird nickname to bestow, he gradually wore me down and I now find myself calling you that from time to time. Hopefully this is one of the more short-lived nicknames, but I’m not too optimistic. Daddy loves yelling, “Hey, handsome!” and I don’t even think he calls you by your name anymore these days (except, perhaps, a stern “Sylvia!” when you’re being mischievous).
You are now 9 months old – out as long as you were in! This second 40 weeks definitely went faster than the first, and it just keeps picking up steam. I now feel ridiculous that I have still not written your birth story, and I promise to do it at some point in your ninth month. I better get it down in writing soon, because now that you are such a big girl you are keeping me busier than ever. What a difference a month has made!
You are now crazily mobile. You are crawling, rolling everywhere, pulling up to stand, beginning to “cruise,” and you’ve even logged a few seconds of independent standing! They talk about “wonder weeks” in which babies learn a flurry of new skills all at once – well, I think you’ve been having a wonder month because there’s something new every day! You’re pretty fearless, and have thus given yourself enough bumps and bruises (and even a bloody nose!) that we’re probably already on some DSS watch list. You’re getting the hang of this “two-knees” business, but when you started crawling, you were doing so with your left knee and your right foot, with both of your feet facing to the right. I thought it was the cutest little simian thing ever, but your PT said that it’s actually maladaptive since you have some asymmetry in your strength, so for the past month I’ve been following you around on my hands and knees in an attempt to keep your leg down. Yeah, because that’s easy to do all day long! Luckily, you’re discovering that right knee more and more. Hmm, is “luckily” really the right choice of word? Why again did I wish for and encourage you to start crawling? Man, you’re getting incredibly fast with each passing day and you’re into *everything!* The cat food, the recycling, the shoes, the magazines, the crumbs in the crack of the oven…you are exploring every facet and detail of your abode from your new vantage point, and it pretty much all ends up in your mouth at one point or another. You are certainly challenging my previously-held notion of what was “clean enough.” Our housecleaning paraphernalia have seen more use in the past month than they had in entire years, and yet you still manage to find the one speck of dust or rogue Cheerio that we miss.
You recently had your 9-month appointment, and you remain a supermodel contender with your proportions. You’re in the 69th percentile for height, 17th for weight, and 24th for head circumference. You’re so long, in fact, that we just graduated you to a convertible car seat. No more bucket seat for you. Which means I’m now trapped in the car if you ever decide to take your nap there. I think you like it, though. Daddy calls it your “command center,” and you lounge out in it and play with your toys and your feet. You’ve even already taken a couple of naps in it while riding around, and we only got it installed two days ago, so that gets a big thumbs up from me. You are less sure about riding in the stroller like a big girl. It’s fine as long as I keep moving, but whenever I stop, you get whiny. I think you miss having someone to look at and, truthfully, I miss looking down at your little face, too. It’s not the same peering down at the top of your head through a plastic window in the canopy. Oh well, we’ve only used that $300 stroller about 5 times anyway. I laughed at the extreme stance the character “LN” took on strollers in the sweet movie “Away We Go,” but truthfully I’m probably closer to that than I realize. You and I are much happier being marsupials with the Ergo most of the time. As long as you stay in the 17th percentile for weight, I’m happy to carry you around. It’s fun – kind-of reminiscent of my pregnant belly, except with flailing limbs and a babbling mouth attached.
As you grow, your features are changing and rearranging, and I’m starting to see more of your daddy’s face in yours. And your cousin Timmy. You look quite a bit like he did as a baby, down to the way you move your mouth. But every once in a while, I still catch something that is so unmistakably me or my mother or even your paternal great-grandma that it catches me off-guard. You have now cut your top two teeth (PLEASE stop grinding them with your lower ones!) and we realized that you have a lower-than-average labial frenulum (the little doo-hickey that attaches your lip to your gums). When I mentioned it to my mom, she said, “Oh, she’s probably going to have the Gilmore gap!” Ah yes, that. It skipped me, but your grandpa has it, and I think your great aunt might, too. Genes are funny things. I still have no clue what you’re going to look like when you’re older.
You went through a brief period with a food strike, but now you’re back on solids. You seem to think, though, that you’re too much of a big-shot for purées, and you infinitely prefer finger foods now. This month you’ve enjoyed feeding yourself beans, melon, banana, puffs, Cheerios, cottage cheese, string cheese, carrots, bread, avocado, blueberries, and globs of spinach. It is a messy adventure every time you eat, and you’re up to three meals a day now. There is constantly food on everything, and I think I may invest in a smock of some kind for both of us. In fact, I may just take to feeding you outside now that it’s warmer. Then I can just hose you off when we’re done! Just kidding. Kind-of.
You are a very social being, and we’re seeing even more of your wild-woman personality. Daddy no longer gets more than a minute or two of coffee time in the morning. You pretty much demand that he play “horsey,” dance with you, sing to you, and throw you around. He’s exhausted before his day even begins. You enjoy meeting new people now, and only rarely cry if they touch you or get too close. You love being out and about, soaking in new sights, sounds, and smells. However, I still have to introduce you slowly to new environments when you’re not safely ensconced in our arms. If I plunk you down in an unfamiliar setting, you immediately cry and crawl to me for reassurance. Eventually, though, you do scamper around, exploring your new environs like a little one-kneed Magellan. With other kids, frankly, you’re a bit of a bully. Your buddy Luke is always so gentle with you and actually seems to enjoy taking turns with toys with you, but you just rip them out of his hands maniacally and bop him on the head with them. I think you get a “needs improvement” in the “plays nice with others” category for now. The other day, though, you met your match with Gabe. According to his parents, he’s a bit of a bully, too. I think we’ll set up some regular play dates to let you two take each other down a few pegs.
You now fancy yourself a conversationalist and you are constantly talking throughout the day. You have perfected a ton of new consonant sounds, including b,d,g,h,m,n,p,s,v, and w, and you string them together with all kinds of vowels and funny inflections. You’ve started trying to imitate some words, including “Hi” (“huh”), “Dada,” “Mama,” “kiss” (“sss”), “goosh” (daddy’s word, I have no idea…your version is “guh”) and “poop” (“puh”). We’re still not calling the “Dada” and “Mama” official words yet, since you don’t seem to be labeling us with them, just imitating. But, I don’t know, maybe they are? Boy, I hope “poop” isn’t your first official word. That’s not really a great one for the baby books! But, I swear, the other day you passed some gas, and then looked at me and said, definitively, “puh” with a big smile on your face. It was pretty hilarious.
You’ve been loving book time as of late, and you actually are now listening to the language and stories, rather than just trying to eat the corners of the books. I mean, you still take a nibble every now and again, but after you’ve satisfied your craving for cardboard, your focus goes back to the tale. You try to pick up some of the illustrations in your pincer grasp, and you’re starting to figure out how to turn the pages. Your current favorites include “Brown Bear, Brown Bear,” “Hop on Pop,” and “Snuggle Puppy.” You’re less appreciative of Mommy’s and Daddy’s books and magazines, and you enjoy pulling them off of shelves and ripping them to pieces as we yell “no!” from afar. Boy, we’re finding new things to childproof every day!
This new Sylvie you’re becoming can be exhausting from time to time, but mostly you’re just a blast. I am loving your feisty personality, your independent streak, and your zest for life. It’s so fun to look at things through your eyes and realize just how much of what you’re seeing and experiencing each day is a “first.” I am constantly watching your wheels turning and the connections you’re making with nothing less than awe. When we brought home this little mohawk’d newborn-who-could-fit-on-my-forearm 9 months ago, I never could have imagined that, in the blink of an eye, you’d be this little entity with so many ideas, opinions, and preferences. Yet, here you are. I am amazed by you every day. And I’m so glad you’re mine. I love you, little handsome pants.
Great big kisses (“ss-ss”),
Mama
Look ma, I sewed!
March 6, 2010 at 12:30 pm
The problem: Little Miss Mischief is fascinated by the cat’s food (and I’m positive the cat’s litter and the toilet can’t be far behind – gross!). This old apartment has doorways that are too narrow to accommodate any of the gates on the market. And anyway, the cat needs to have access to these places and she’s far too much of a proper old lady to be jumping over gates at this point in her life.
The solution: I stole the basic design from Amanda (Jackson’s mom – thanks, Amanda!), who had made this type of gate for the irregular opening at the bottom of her stairs. I simply measured the space, fit two telescoping shower curtain rods to the height I wanted (low enough for us to step over relatively easily), and sewed a piece of fabric to fit between them. To this, I added a “cat door,” which was just a 5 x 5 square cut into the center, and then sewn to reinforce it. I didn’t choose the most sturdy of fabric, so this may be a solution that only lasts a few months, but so far so good! The cat ran right through her openings without hesitation, and so far Sylvie seems to have forgotten all about the cat food. I’m such a pioneer woman.
The kitchen pantry gate. Because it's set up between the appliances, it also keeps her from accessing the wires, as well as the inevitable disgusting-ness behind said appliances.
The bathroom gate. Now we just need to remember not to trip over it as we stumble bleary-eyed into the bathroom in the morning.
Ladies who lunch
March 5, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Thursday we met up at a sing along with a mom (Kate) and baby (Sadie) we had met way back when our babes were around 3 months old. We also ran into buddies Katie and Claire there. As usual, the sing along was a mob scene, so we high-tailed it out of there as soon as the last song was over and went across the street for a bite to eat. We had a great time getting reacquainted with Kate and Sadie, and we all had a lovely time together. Well, except the waitress, I’m pretty sure. Claire and Sylvie snacked on bread, and Sadie shared her mom’s cobb salad. By the time we left, there was more food on the floor than in their little bellies, and we quickly threw down a big ol’ tip and scurried out before they could discover the mess we made and kick us out. We can dress ‘em up, but we can’t take ‘em out, I suppose. Nah, it was too much fun. I’m still going to do it. We’ll just make sure to go to a different restaurant each time.
Sadie's in awe over the size of their salad
Claire tries bread for the first time
Sylvie tried a bite of Sadie's hard-boiled egg. NOT impressed!
Jelly Jam!
March 5, 2010 at 9:50 pm
This past Wednesday, Sylvie and I started a new music class called Jelly Jam. She was so in love with the Kindermusik experience that I really wanted her to get to do something like it again, and along came this (somewhat) more affordable opportunity, so I jumped on it. We signed up with friends Nancy and Luke, and were also pleasantly surprised to see Gabe (Sylvie’s birthday twin) there with his grandma Linda. I was so sure that Sylvie was going to squeal with delight and have a rolicking good time, but, wouldn’t you know it, she took nearly that entire 45-minute opportunity to discover pulling herself up in front of the mirror. And boy, is that little girl in love with herself! I kept pulling her back to do the music and movement activities, and I’d say she probably logged about 5 minutes worth of actual music class activities. Ah, vanity.
Luke and Sylvie, ready to rock
They meet
She humored me for a minute of flashlight games...
...a quick pillow squish...
...and a second or two of using her crazy hair as a bubble magnet...
...but then it was back to her new best bud.
Wordless Wednesday: Say it Again, I Dare You Edition
March 3, 2010 at 9:06 pm
Rockin’ and Rompin’
February 28, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Today we headed to the Arts at the Armory for an event called the Rock and Romp, which featured two indie bands (One Happy Island and The Shills) as well as DJ Michael Savant of the Liberty Hotel’s “Fashionably Late.” We had to wait for Sleeping Beauty to awaken from her afternoon nap, so we only got to see the latter two, but it was still a good time. We met up with friends Julie, Dave, and their son, Gabe, and enjoyed some good beer, good music, and good company. As expected, Sylvia Spitfire totally dug the scene and giggled and smiled her way through the performance and the dancing. She was also completely mesmerized by the older kids’ balloon animals and stared intently at them as they floated past. You’ll get your own in due time, my little friend.
Dancing on daddy's shoulders
These babes are birthday twins! Look at the difference in their head size! My little peanut head. 
Gabe's shirt reads "I'm with the band."
Sylvie snuggles up to Julie. Hooray for the end of stranger anxiety!
Babies Gone Wild! (Yes, it's empty)
Party animal (still empty )
Some February footage
February 28, 2010 at 10:33 pm
I haven’t been posting that frequently lately, but we’ve been just a busy as ever. As we wait out the gloomy tail-end of winter, Sylvie and I have been having lots of fun together indoors. Here’s a glimpse into some of our silly moments this month.
A fun new game:
And another:
A sweet snack: