Good-bye, 2009

Well, 2009 was a banner year. The best one on record, in fact, what with Grace's birth and all. However, the last ten days or so have been nuts so we'll be happy to ring in the new year tomorrow. I intended to do a year in review post like last year's, but, um, life happened instead. Just a glimpse of what we've been up to, other than having a lovely Christmas... names are obscured to protect the innocent: 1 sick baby and 2 sick parents; a nasty case of food poisoning; 2 people with serious fevers; a catheterized baby; lots of aches, pains and congestion; a middle of the night trip, by ambulance, to the ER where someone got 9 staples in the head. Now we know what "crack your head open" means (good thing since I had been wondering). Thank goodness my mother has been here to help out. Seems like everyone is on the mend, and, God willing, we'll start 2010 without any excitement.

Happy New Year!

Christmas

Grace liked Christmas. Poor thing was getting over a nasty virus and didn't quite have her spirits back. Luckily, her fever was gone by Christmas Eve and she was starting to act like herself on Christmas.

Dad had to help her with her loot.

She really liked tissue paper.

Almost as much as she adores her new stacking cups.

Yes, stacking cups rock.

After church, Lisa and Livia joined us for a walk in the snow and then came over to play (unfortunately, Livia's dad didn't get to join the fun - he was working nights to keep Santa healthy and trying to sleep at home).

Baby's first Christmas.

Playing with GoGo. Note the stacking cups.

The stacking cups are, in fact, stuck to her hands.

I will post more photos on flickr as soon as I can get my account unfrozen.

Merry Christmas!

Wrappin'

That Christmas elf came back... and she likes curling ribbon and crinkly wrapping paper.

Snow!

You might have heard that the east coast was hit by a rather dramatic snowstorm over the weekend. It wasn't really so dramatic up here, but maybe that's just because we're used to massive snowfall. In fact, it was the loveliest weekend - Steve and I watched Elf (only one of the greatest Christmas movies) while drinking hot cider and waiting for the snow to start, and then Sunday we woke up to a snow covered city. I made pancakes, which I never do because I don't really know how, then we went to church, wandered around in the snow, watched football, and made Christmas cookies, all while watching the snow continue to fall all day. Grace kept falling asleep in the Ergo and caught snowflakes in her eyelashes while we were walking. Once we took her out to check out the snow, she seemed kind of intrigued.

Walking in the Common.

This is snow.

Enjoy it now.

Because there's won't be much where we're going!

A few more December pictures.

Finally a video

I can never remember how to transfer videos so they pile up on the video camera, but I finally got technical support to teach me how to fish rather than give me a fish. Now there will be videos galore!

Here's a bathing beauty getting the giggles...

CIO: Day 5

Around 3am I heard a holler, then another and then nothing. Then, Grace was up for the day at 5:30am (lest you envy too much how smoothly this has gone). So, I'm going to quit with the updates since there's not much to say. However, upon reflection, I think this wasn't so much an exercise in sleep training as a tune up after some kind of disruption or developmental milestone. Cross your fingers tonight doesn't prove me wrong. And happy weekend!

PS - Even though it's slid down the page, I still need votes about my hair. This is important, friends!

West side

Another great piece from Timothy Egan, this time further attempting to settle the score on the whole west vs. east bit. Contrary to popular belief along the northeast corridor, however, the U.S. doesn't really end west of the Mississippi. Sometimes, culturally and politically important events even happen way out there... California and its gazillion electoral votes? The iPhone? Google? Microsoft? Hollywood? The Twilight Series? And Costco, just like Egan says. Steve is a big fan of the 1.50 hot dog and I'm all about the cheese pizza by the slice, followed by sharing a chocolate and vanilla swirled fro-yo. In fact, we'll be lunching there tomorrow.

More reasons to love the piece? He mentions the excellent Sherman Alexie and also got to Joe Lieberman. That means I can skip the post on the few words I would direct to the independent Senator from Connecticut (but in case you need more on that subject with a dose of humor to keep you from crying, try this).

Gracie is working on her wesside sign, but she still hasn't gotten the kinks worked out so photos will have to come later.

Open question

I desperately need a haircut, and casual polling has left me at a loss for what to do. So, super short and piecey? Posh Spice bob? And if a bob, with or without bangs? Just a trim of what I have now? Same general length as it is now, but more piecey and textured with bangs? Start growing it out? Help! I was ready to chop it off because the winter here is so dry and blow-drying makes it that much worse, but I'm not sure I really want to do that... So, give me your opinion in the comments. Please?!

CIO: Day 4

I woke up about 4:30 this morning and realized we hadn't heard from Grace all night. I was feeling all like we're the best parents ever and have the best kid ever as I tried to fall back asleep, but then she peeped. Then, she peeped louder and more insistently. Then, she started wailing and whining. This went on until about 5am. I was about to go try to settle her and make sure had a pacifier within reach when she stopped. And then she was quiet until about 6am. So maybe the sleep champ is back, but I'm not going to claim victory until we give it a few more nights.

Animal kingdom

The same weekend we went to RI for fun with the Scotts, we took Grace to the New England Aquarium (a lovely little aquarium, incidentally). So it was an animal filled weekend for Grace.

Here she is with her dad and some penguins.

Checking out the "tide pools" for kids.

Groovy starfish.

Then, at the Scotts', she met Junior the cat. Grace seemed enchanted with the stuffed animal that moved. And he was fairly patient when she discovered she could yank on his ears. Gracie was so entertained that her cat-allergic mother decided she needed one. Fortunately, the voice of reason is not a cat person and said no.

Ginny and Ryan torturing their poor cat.

Grace was just delighted.

Too bad for Junior, she doesn't understand "gentle" yet.

Bookshelf: Portait in Sepia

It turns out that I have collected some excellent books and failed to read them for years. The latest is Isabel Allende's Portrait in Sepia. It is an amazing tale of multiple generations of a Chilean family, starting in San Francisco in the mid-1800s and continuing with their return to Chile, ending in 1910 near Santiago. Told in three parts, the first from a different perspective than the heroine, the first part reminded me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's work. Set against historic events in California and then in Chile, it's utterly engrossing with fabulous characters and beautiful writing. Normally, if I see a paragraph that goes on for more than a page, I confess that I shudder a little and skim, but Isabel Allende could get away with anything in this book. I think this might be the first of her many books that I have read, but likely will not be the last.

CIO: Day 3

Progress. Three wake ups during the night, and each time she went back to sleep on her own, without parental intervention, within five minutes. I, of course, woke up at regular intervals to wonder why she wasn't awake, and although she slept until 6am, I was awake at 5:20 wondering when she would wake up. Such is the life of a nursing mother. But it gave me time to lay in bed and finish my book, a real treat. It's hard to believe we could really be getting off this easy with the crying it out... if this turns out to be a short and boring set of posts on sleep training, you won't mind, will you?

CIO: Days 1 and 2

Our champion sleeper has been somewhat less of a champ lately. Grace has been waking a lot during the night and fussing (ok, raging) as well as waking earlier in the morning. Sometimes she cries for a few minutes and goes back to sleep and other times, we're not so lucky. We've let her cry a few times, but realized that it's time to be consistent and play hardball. It's interesting because as awful as it is, it also seems like she's ready for it. She wants to be picked up and cuddled and has a fit when put down, but she doesn't need anything specific (i.e., she's not hungry or in pain as far as we can tell) so it seems like it's time to work harder at the self-soothing.

She generally goes down well in the evening, but then wakes during the night. So, starting Sunday we've been letting her cry and trying to resist the temptation to just give her the pacifier so all three of us can go back to sleep. Sunday went pretty well - she woke twice, but got back to sleep on her own, and didn't get up to eat until sometime maybe 5:30am. Not bad - that's a ten hour night for her. Now, just because she's going back to sleep doesn't mean I'm going back to sleep...

Monday night, not quite so smooth. Two wake ups in which she quickly went back to sleep after crying a few minutes. Bonus was that I went back to sleep also. However, she woke a third time and was really raging. We waited it out a good 20 minutes (we're actually not that wimpy - one time last week we let her cry for 40 minutes), but we started to hear our neighbors making noise so we were worried she was keeping them awake. Steve went to her to soothe her and give her the binky and she went back to sleep for another hour. All in all, I guess this is pretty good, but I'm not sure how we'll go forward if we have a complaint from the neighbors. However, these particular neighbors I just dare to come and complain... we've been listening to them scream over football/baseball/basketball games for two and a half years, plus they run around in high heels and throw marbles on the floor all the time, and apparently have a fetish for furniture assembly in the middle of the night. But I digress.

Anyway, here's hoping that night three is the charm and we're done with CIO and Grace becomes a fantastic sleeper. We should be so lucky. However, so many friends have told me that crying it out was really hard when they did it, but paid off with a happy, healthy, good sleeper. It must be done and so we continue.

Be my friend?

We had a great time visiting Ginny, Ryan, and their darling girls Mei-Lin and KeiLi in Newport, RI last weekend. Ginny made an excellent lunch, and we had a relaxing time hanging out and catching up.

Mei-Lin was off to more exciting activities (wii) with the neighbor boy by the time I got the camera out, but here are some cute ones of Grace with KeiLi. KeiLi is 2 and was very patient with the baby, even bringing me a diaper at one point to help with a change. But halfway through our failed attempt to get a shot of both of them smiling, she scooted down to the end of the couch. You can see Grace tried to follow...

Because she's cute

No story other than Grace is cute and she has fun and I take pictures. More snaps here.

It's here

It being winter. Snow last weekend. Freezing temps, wintry mix, high winds, bare trees. Highs below freezing for days on end, and that's before the windchill. All the reasons to live in New England. So, we had to break out the snowsuit.

Oh, Grace. We're still inside! It's going to get so much worse.

The cutest pink marshmallow you ever did see.

I'm a little antsy about winter this year because getting outside has been the solution to many a crying jag or nap that wouldn't be. I fear that when it's freezing and there are mounds of frozen snow and giant icy or slushy puddles at every intersection (usually a combo of all three), we'll be housebound. And housebound isn't good for anyone living with a seven month old. A very cute seven month old, but one that likes regular scenery changes, walks, swings and to see lots of different faces each day. She does not like to see only my face. Apparently, although people often say she looks just like me, she doesn't find me as cute as I find her.

Holiday spirit

Last week, a little Christmas elf helped me get started on the Christmas baking...

And yesterday she helped put the finishing touches on the tree.

Cannot believe it's mid-December and almost time for Christmas. Really. Really! Where does time go?

Future Triton?

Seems possible...

Seven months

Our tiny baby girl is seven months old!

When I dropped her off at daycare this morning, I got a little choked up. She happily went to her teacher when we arrived and when I left, I peeked back through the window. She was sitting on the floor with a few other babies, playing with a toy, and then one of the other kids started talking and she looked up at him. Just seeing her in her own little world, one Steve and I aren't a part of is striking. I'm happy she's happy there, but already she's growing so fast. (Yes, I know I'm talking about a seven month old baby who is utterly dependent on us as if she's about to head off to college).

Then, when I picked her up, she was dancing with her teacher. Then, the head teacher said that she was wishing there were more babies like Grace because Grace is always so happy and never cries. This made my day, of course (and sorry if I'm sounding obnoxious, but I know her grandparents will appreciate this anecdote). I asked whether she talks a lot and the teacher said oh yes, and if you talk to her she looks at you like "i'm the one who's supposed to be talking." Ah, yes, that's my girl.

Grace has decided to roll over now. She started doing it all the time the day before Thanksgiving, but it doesn't seem likely to become a mode of transport. She'd rather be standing and practicing stepping. All the time.

She's also finally started to eat solids. We're crossing our fingers that she continues to make progress because we've had some steps forward and back on this. But a few times now she has more or less demanded more food.

One of my favorite new Gracie tricks? Sometimes she sleeps on her side, all curled up in her sleep sack. It's so cute. And her hugs and kisses and the giggles, especially when she gets a little delirious in the evenings, are the most wonderful things in the world.

Resting up after a busy day at school (when you don't nap all afternoon, you sometimes fall asleep the moment you head home).

Happy 7 month old baby.

This makes me laugh

I came across this yesterday and was quite delighted. The places look lovely and remind me how thrilled I am to be moving to San Francisco. But the laughing is that folks there think they need to warm up! The average high in Boston in January is 36 degrees; the average San Francisco low in January is 46 degrees. The very best part, though, is that a year from now, I, too, will think I need a warm coat when it hits the forties.

PS - this post will probably be the first of many many many in the coming months about the weather. But I'll try to make sure there are at least as many pictures of the world's cutest baby as there whimpers about the cold.

Because I know you were wondering

We did watch the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird, and it was wonderful. I had heard it was one of the best film adaptations of a book. It was very well done and Gregory Peck was marvelous as Atticus Finch. Obviously, the film couldn't include everything, but even the parts that were explicitly different than the book were handled well. You should watch it. Probably this weekend.

New York, New York

We figured the biggest shopping day of the year would be a great day to head into Manhattan with a 6 month old when rain and 30 mph winds were predicted. Turns out, it was. The weather cooperated and it was mild, perfect for walking around midtown to check out the decorations and show Grace some of the famous sights. It'll be a long time before she returns, but at least she'll have the photos to prove she was there.

Our little party animal seemed to have a great time, although she did get mad at the Ergo carrier and preferred being carried. Steve and I saw a few new places (St. Patrick's Cathedral and Grand Central Terminal). We ate good food and topped off the day with cupcakes. We had the same debate we always have... love NYC, could we live there? Yes, no, maybe. We'll have to keep visiting from time to time until we can decide.

Tina Fey, we love you.

With Grandfather in Rockefeller Center.

Possibly my favorite photo ever (in Central Park).

In Times Square.

On the train back to CT.

More pictures here, including one of the doll hair salon at the American Girl store. Now, this was just ridiculous. Four floors, tons of super expensive dolls and accessories, and a hair salon where a doll can get various hairstyles or have her ears pierced. I can't comment on whether the dolls still have the history along with them, like the originals did, but I was sad to see that Kirsten (the one I had) and Samantha aren't available anymore. I guess it's not cool to be a pioneer or a victorian era girl anymore... lucky Grace, she'll have a different doll than all her friends. They'll have to have the hip new ones, and she'll get a Swedish-American pioneer girl with her St. Lucia wreath and braids. Anyway, Steve was horrified by it all, and frankly, I was too. More proof I'm getting to be a fuddy-duddy.

Baby's first Thanksgiving

We drove to Connecticut on Thursday morning, by way of Dunkin on the Pike, of course. It's a gluttonous holiday. Grace was a champ on the drive, chatting with her grandfather and snoozing when we started to sing country songs. After some catching up with my aunt, uncle and cousins, and lots of cuddles for Gracie, we all headed to New York for the Thanksgiving extravaganza at my aunt and uncles' friends' house. In addition to great food, a few other babies were there, including one from San Francisco who may become a playmate once we move. And Grace was absolutely delighted by all the action and attention. That kiddo loves to be around people! So much so that she forgot to nap all day and crashed big time when we got back to Connecticut, but not without a rather dramatic meltdown in the car.

We took a quick trip to New York City on Friday, then spent the rest of the weekend lounging by the fire, eating too much, and passing Grace around. She couldn't have been happier! And we couldn't figure out what we talked about before we had her to coo at all the time.

Oh the trip back. Better left unmentioned. A 2.5 hour drive became a 5 hour trip. World's most traumatic diaper change. Traffic. And joining a new club... parents with young children eating at a rest stop rather than plowing through the drive.

A few more Thanksgiving weekend pictures here.