In the spirit!

We are getting in the spirit at the Heinz household. Even Daddy is making festive promises of making gingerbread men and driving through the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights with hot cups of cocoa. My MIL bought us some dutch cocoa and I am just about all the way through it, enjoying a cup during every nap. I don't even like marshmallows really, but I have them and they go in--just for the sake of being festive! No office party to attend, as I am an office of one, but have arranged an ornament exchange with good friends as a perfect substitute. Jingle Bells is our number one diaper changing song at the moment. We watch the sexist* but fantastic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer fuzz-mation Christmas story nearly every morning while folding clothes, playing and drinking warm drinks. The house smells like tree, and tree scented candle, and tree cuttings. We've made mulled wine with cinnamon sticks, cloves, and citrus, which, if you can believe it, smells even better than tree and reminds me of my days as a foreign student in France and Belgium--mulled wine stands at the little snowy Christmas markets. Daddy makes a little hot toddy in the evening and watches his baby girl play with a snowman doll and holiday books. Oh if only the whole year had so much coziness! I think this is why I love living the NW where we have seasons. By February, we will be ready to be rid of the cold and snow and push our way into sunlight like a little nest of crocuses. By April, we will be dreaming of warm weather, fresh fruit, and the smell of sunscreen on our babies' faces. In the dead heat of July, we will be thinking of cooler times to come with harvest colors in our place settings. And by that lovely fall harvest, we will be dreaming again of a white Christmas. Each season gives us something to look forward to. Each season is festive in its own right with beautiful colors, smells and tastes to enjoy and share with our children. I can already tell I am going to be one sentimental old lady.

*Mrs. Donner wanted to join him naturally, but Donner said NO this is MAN'S work.

Everybody Eats Well in Belgium

I finally broke down and bought the Everybody Eats Well in Belgium cookbook! Amazon.com has been recommending it to me for years. I've idly added it to my cart a dozen times, but always take it out at the last minute. I cook with about as much care as I blog! I love to write and I love to cook, but only when I have adequate time and preparation. With my new pregnancy, I have been craving an old Belgian favorite--Carbonade Flamande a la Liegeoise--essentially Belgian Beef Stew, but with a sweet kick by adding Liege syrup. I have tried to find "Du vrai sirop de Liege" for years, but could never find any. However, Amazon.com came through for me! And so I also bought, on their recommendation as well as my fellow Belgian exchangee Joanna's recommendation, this fantastic cookbook! It is really fun to read all of the recipes. Tonight we are having a "Belgian feast" with some friends--boulettes (meatballs), saussices (sausages), pommes de terre (potatoes), et la bonne salade de Mamy (Grandma's good salad--that is Grandma Collette in this case). Heavy perfect comfort food for a fall day. Maybe I'll blog about how tasty it was. Maybe. More likely I will prioritize trying to make the next recipe in my book. xx

Update:

It is a new world. My child just talked to her Dada on speaker phone and has figured out how to turn on the XBox via remote control. She is singing to the remote control now and intermittently questioning me: "Mama? Mama?" No, I can't teach you what that thing does yet. You aren't even supposed to watch tv until you are two years old. And even then no more than half an hour each day. Thankfully chasing the cat still has more appeal than blinky electronics. Oh, and licking the knob to my desk drawer. Yes, she is still one going on...one!

Notes to Self

Dear Self:

You could use some pointers, mostly about time management. Here is what you need to know:

1. You really don't need to check Facebook more than once an hour. Maybe even once a day. What a brain drain! Ah, but it's an addiction.
2. Eat more beans. You don't get gas from them--you are lucky--so eat them!
3. Listen to more music. It makes your baby dance. You like watching your baby dance. It is a win-win all the way around.
4. Eat more barley. It goes well with beans.
5. Figure out what the hell happened to your customized blog background while you were off raising aforementioned child and not blogging. Seriously...where is my cute blog background?
6. Drink more water. Add lemon if it helps. Add bubbles if you need to. Just drink more water. It is good for your skin. And all those other organs you carry around.
7. Get your abs in shape. You want another baby or three. If you want to carry another baby around for 9 months you need a package to keep it in. You can do ab exercises while you Facebook.
8. Make lots of lists. Cross stuff off of said lists. Get things done. Like vacuuming and mopping the floor and watering the garden.
9. Floss. And brush. Because your dad told you to. And it is disturbing that children get tooth decay from their parents. You don't want to be responsible for your child's cavities simply because you forget to floss then play games involving munching chubby fingers.
10. Call your parents. You love them, they love you. You now know how much effort it took to ensure you ate and were not covered in dirt all day long. Plus your dad wants to discuss the Bachelorette.

My Busy Bee and Other Notes

Wow. That's all there is to say. In the last month and half, my baby Bee* has made such changes I haven't been able to keep up with anything but her. Crawling, standing, cruising, moving everywhere! And the weather has gotten quite nice, so we have also been busy building raised garden beds, planting, and weeding. Baby Bee has eaten her first hunk of dirt--a lovely top soil mix, complete with manure, so you know it was tasty stuff. There is so much to say, too much really. The Blogger Goddesses are able to document each day as it comes, so you get a snapshot of how things have been progressing. When you go a whole month--a small drop in the bucket for the earth, but a huge leap for my child--it is hard to know where to begin.

*Yes, I know her name isn't Bee. But I call her Bug, Doodle Bug, Bugaboo, Mrs. Doodlebees, Baby Bee, Bumble Bee, Sugar Beet, and sometimes it just gets shortened to Bee.

Let's just say she's my busy Bee. A chatterbox like her mom. A new hobby every minute like her dad. She calls me mama. Which is also what she calls every other important person in her life, most especially the cat and dog. Dad is not quite Dada yet. He is more often "Bob." But it is obvious she has a special fondness for this "Bob" fellow, as she takes great pains to poke and prod him awake, prying the pillow off of his head in the morning after she is done nursing. She loves inspecting teeth and mouths, which tickles her maternal grandpa, a dentist, to bits. Her favorite book thus far is "Busy Kitties" and the wide mouthed yowling "orange kitty" is by far her favorite. You can go through the book 1000 times and "orange kitty!" always draws a squeal. Paternal grandparents bought her "My Big Animal Book," which, to her great delight, also features an "orange kitty" that inspires squeals.

At almost 10 months, she is eating a lot of new things. She regularly eats little bits of bread, cheddar cheese, sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, blackberries and blueberries, yogurt, cottage cheese, loads of apple-apricot sauce, various purees and new chunky things that pass through our kitchen. I can't wait to see her toddle out to the garden and pick her own peas and carrots.

Early spring in Yakima has been more like spring in Eugene than I would have imagined possible. Misty, rainy days with sun through the clouds. The Yakima River smells strangely like the Willamette--all spicy and earthy. It makes our little family feel like getting our hands dirty and being more connected to the earth. So we are growing--I should say attempting to grow--lettuce, carrots, radishes, garlic, sweet onions, beets and chives. I'm ready to put vine peas up my trellises, and the Mister wants to put in the tomatoes already, though it isn't really quite tomato time according to the experts. Eh, he says, the worst that could happen is that we have to replant. The best is that we get tomatoes earlier and in greater numbers! Can't argue with that logic, I guess.

I'm currently reading the book "Depeletion and Abundance: Life on the New Home Front." It is full of inspiring, interesting and controversial ideas. The accompanying website can be found here. It does discuss, in part, a very interesting point that my mom and I recently explored--how my generation is starting to look for ways to reconnect with the basics, while her generation tried desperately to find timesaving shortcuts so that they could do it all--work 8 hours, dinner on the table, kids where they need to be, etc. One example, she knows very few people who knit or want to knit. It seems just about everyone I know either knits, tries to knit, or intends to knit someday. (I have a wonderful set of knitting needles yet to make anything but a chain.) Anyway, I liked that portion of the discussion and the question of "women's work" that ensues. Much of the book relies on the assumption that Peak Oil has happened or is about to and that Climate Change is real and ready to change our lives forever. The message is to prepare for a much simpler life. Reduce your debt, invest in making your home warm and comfortable, learn to raise food year round, preserve what food you can, and open your heart to your family and your community--because we are all going to be living in closer quarters and in much harder times, sooner that we'd like. And if it doesn't happen in my lifetime, she believes it will happen to our children. She preaches that the legacy we should leave our kids is how to negotiate this imminent future. Frankly, the book has made me a little paranoid and psychotic--but has me thinking of how to be a better "locavore," which is a good thing. (Do you know how hard it is to find things you want that aren't made in China? Yeesh!)

Thanks to my dear friend Andrea, my favorite Blogger Goddess, I finally became familiar with Anne Lamott's writing. First, I am grateful to have read her stories because she is simply a fantastic writer. Second, she reminds us how easy it is to be grateful for the things we have. The two prayers Ms. Lamott uses most often in her life are: "Help, help, help!" and "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" That made me giggle. I have found myself saying both of these things so often with my baby Bee. Thankful she didn't make it to the cat litter box in that 10 seconds I was putting a glass in the dishwasher. Praying for help that she stays asleep while the neighbor runs his chainsaw during naptime. So many opportunities for both of these prayers...

Anyway, things have been busy, busy. My goal is to do one or two tasks a day for work, maintain a somewhat clean and orderly kitchen and tv room (the rest of the house is not a priority), and play as much as possible with my Bee. She is a joy, pure and simple.

As my newly tech savvy dad would say when signing off an instant message, "over and out."

(Photos coming soon.)

Break the Mirror

I recently read a poem that included the lines, "To stay young, to save the world, break the mirror." I felt the message was to stop looking at yourself, inside and out. Focus on being present in the moment and doing good. These lines really resonated with me, not only because I am all too focused on losing the last few pounds of dreaded baby weight and examing my legs for spider veins every other day, but also because I am struggling with this blog. What? This blog? Yes! This blog! As I sit down to compose blog posts, I feel pressure to show my little world in its most positive light. A reframe of my life--like when someone visits the house for dinner, and I have been frantically cleaning the kitchen, lighting candles, cleaning the cat box, and brushing my hair into some semblance of order. "Of course I live in a Pottery Barn catalogue, don't you?" No, I don't. I live in the PetCo catalogue, massive amounts of hair included. And I don't have something wonderful and inspiring to say everyday to the world about the minutiae of my day. My life IS wonderful, but in the most general sense. I have a fantastic husband, a growing, healthy, charming child, pets that make me laugh, friends that bring me support and levity, I have coffee, ice cream, long walks, fresh air and the occasional yoga class. Everything is so sweet, and I am content. I just don't want to post a photo of the lentils I made last night for dinner. And I don't want to have to garnish them with cilantro, just so that the photo looks fancy enough to put on here. This is why I can't be a Blogger Goddess. I can't inspire you with anecdotes about who I want to be--who I am in ideal conditions--my best foot forward so that you feel like your day could be as sweet, fresh and meaningful as mine. I am breaking the Blog mirror. Which basically means that you have to simply believe that my life is wonderful without me telling you about my herb garden or the little spider I saw building her web so industriously or how I laughed so hard I cried when my baby cracked herself up by licking my ankle repeatedly. Crash, smash. Bang, boom. The mirror is cracked, dropped and gone. Now maybe I can write without feeling like I'm headed into my first school dance. xx

In like a lion...

Yay for March! Except that I went an entire month without blogging. Can you blame me? Work has picked up quite a bit, my child is fully engaged in eating solid foods, I'm trying to find time to vacuum since she is also crawl-rolling all over tarnation, suddenly there's yard work, hiking, spring cleaning, taxes--you name it, we're doing it! We did have time for a quick Sunday photo session with our new favorite photographer, Lisa Woolcock. Lisa is a friend in town starting her own side photography business. You can see some of our photos here at her photo blog!

Off the top of my head, here are some things to share. We are days away from "mama." The mouth moves silently with "Ms" galore, but she's not quite brave enough to make the sound. My girl loves yogurt. She tolerates avocado. We have a morning Cheerio ritual that involves about 45 Cheerios-- 2 into her mouth and 43 on to the floor, into the eager mouth of the awaiting dog. She's teething and drooling. She slept 8 hours one night like a champ. When her teeth hurt she wakes every 20 minutes between 2-4am. She cackles a hearty laugh at her parents, animals and inanimate objects that strike her fancy. She gets MAD at things that don't do what she asks, including her parents, animals and inanimate objects that strike her fancy. She plays independently for 20 minutes at a time. If I turn my back, she rolls under the crib, around a corner, to lick the remote control, to pull the cat's tummy pooch, or to eat Mama's legal papers left laying carelessly within her reach. In short, we are busy. BUSY. And she gets more fans everyday. She's adorable, fun and smiley. Not a sleepy child, like some-- but an exciting, happy one. And we love her to BITS.

Things we do.

Sweet baby, 6 months.

Month Six was pretty eventful. Not in the sense that a lot was going on around here, but yet there was always something to do. Six-month-olds actually do stuff. They squeal and laugh. They obsess over the family pets. They scream when they don't get their way. They eat a lot of new and different things-- in our case: cereal, sweet potatoes, bananas, pears, butternut squash and green peas, so far. They enjoy toys, especially noisy ones, like rattles and toys that sing in that tinny or electronic baby-toy way. They sit up on their own, roll over and position themselves to find what they are looking for. They can play independently for short periods of time. Having the TV on now seems wrong. I caught baby girl watching Oprah the other day when I turned my back. It's a little early for that, I think. But the point is she has been busy everyday. Just doing little, exciting new things.

There has been some reading.

Busy Doggies is a particularly interesting AND delicious book.

There has been a good amount of reaching and rolling.

Quite a bit of just looking cute.

Playing with the feet, especially sucking on the toes, has been a hit around here.

The thumb is also quite delicious, though slightly less delicious than toes or Busy Doggies.

Sweet potatoes are pretty yummy.

Until they are not yummy anymore. Then they are awful.

Petting the dog is the best.
Well, almost as good as grabbing the cat's tail. More on that later. xx

A Blogger Goddess, I am Not.

I know some very, very talented Blogger Goddesses. Some are creative, some are straightforward. Some are activists, others just journal their daily thoughts. Some are sweet, share recipes, the Gospel, photos of their kitchens, photos of their pets, their kids, the excellent bottle of wine they had last night... And some are truly great writers-- a treat to read. Some are prolific writers-- you have to slog through the details to get the point. But all Blogger Goddesses, to claim the title, actually write. All the time. Nearly everyday. And if not everyday, at least three times a week. They have stamina, they have discipline, and they are out there on the web, grinding it out, even if it means a post at 11 pm after their evening abdominal crunches. I admire these women and their determination, but a Blogger Goddess I am not.

For Blogger Goddess examples see:
www.anewdayrises.wordpress.com
www.blessingsandglory.wordpress.com

www.homesweethomeplace.blogspot.com

The chances of me getting to Blogger Goddess level are nil. For example, my baby girl just woke up from her nap, a bit early. I am struggling to keep writing while she bounces in her Jumperoo. It just doesn't seem like I should keep writing now for some reason. I'm too easily distracted! Gotta keep my eye on the prize. A completed blog post. Go, go, go.

I think I will copy Blogger Goddess numero uno -- my friend Andrea from the aforementioned "A New Day Rises" blog -- and share a list of things that have been making my days brighter lately, in no particular order.

Bergamot. Bergamot makes my day brighter. My dear friend Melissa bought me some Caldrea Cypress Bergamot soap and lotion for Christmas. If she would have bought just the soap, I would be in trouble because my hands would be so dry from overwashing. It smells so spicy and delicious. Also have been drinking Earl Grey Double Bergamot black tea. So, there, Bergamot is the first thing to mention. Also note:

Snuggling with my baby in bed.
Watching her learn new things.
Making baby food.
Kissing her little neck, feet and hands--and the occasional open-mouthed, sloppy baby kiss in return.
The smell of rain in the air.
Cozy slippers.
Not having to leave the house Monday mornings.
Oatmeal cookies.
Bookstores.
Craft stores.
Coffee dates. Where I usually get a Chai Latte, not coffee. So I guess that is a Chai date.
Netflix Watch Instantly feature.
Fancy cleaning products.
Fancy list paper.
Fancy anything that will motivate me to do things I normally shy away from.
Long, uninterrupted showers. A rarity!
Neighborhood walks.
Grocery shopping.

Seeing my husband get home from marathon training, all bright and excited. And a little limpy. (Twenty mile run last weekend around Green Lake in Seattle. TWENTY MILES and the kid has only been training since late fall. He's a natural, I tell you.)

Text messages. Especially funny random ones.
Pandora. Thank you figuring out a way to remain in existence.
Automatic cat litter box. And when my husband empties it.

My new apron from Anthropologie! It is more like a dress, really. It is one of those fancy motivational tools.

Pearls. Perfume. Gifts from my man.
Anticipation of spring.
Cooking sans recipe.

Reminiscing. Old photos. Looking forward to watching my baby girl experience so many new things. Love, love, love.

Finishing a blog post.

First Tastes-- Rice Cereal

Happy New Year!

WOW. December flew by! And here we are in 2010. I have a tickly feeling that this is going to be a great year. I will be turning 32 in January, which sounds like the perfect age to be. I hope it feels as good as it sounds! Since my last post (the much needed hair cut -- so glad that was done before holiday photos), we have had a lot of firsts. First visit with Santa, first Christmas party, first Christmas, first solid foods, first trip to the grocery store sitting in the cart like a big girl...so much going on it's been difficult to find time to write. On top of that, I am moving my office home so that I can manage my practice more easily. I will continue to see clients in my old office space-- I'm just renting a conference room and reception help now. I hope this transition will make things easier on all of us.

Baby girl and I joined Da-da at the annual family Rotary holiday celebration where she met Santa. Her little buddy, Jackson, had visited with Santa just beforehand and cried bloody murder so I decided to sit on Santa's lap with her...she was well mannered and didn't really need me along. (Mama ruined the picture, I think.)

Baby Rotarian.

Meeting the big guy for the first time.

The reason Mama decided to sit in the picture.

For better or for worse, we did not get out to many Christmas gatherings this year. I made a gingerbread house with a dear friend, attended a cookie exchange with some great ladies in the neighborhood, and, as a family, we attended a little early evening gathering with other babies present. The other babies were slightly older-- ranging from 9 months to 14 months, and ALL boys-- but my sweet pea held her own. As the only girl, she even got to wear the sequined Santa hat.

For Christmas, we had my parents-- the oh-so-excited maternal grandparents-- visiting. It was a non-stop love fest for baby girl. She was very fatigued by all of the cooing, kissing, hugging, and loving bestowed on her by her adoring grandparents. Here are a few photos of opening her first Christmas present.

Just when we thought our fun had ended, we were graced with a fantastic visit by some dear friends who live in New York City, but intend to find their way back to the West Coast sometime in the next year or so. They found out they were pregnant about a month before we did. Here was the first meeting between our little ones!

Yes, you're seeing this right-- they held hands right away! ADORABLE.

Whew. It was a whirlwind of a December, but we are ready for the new year. As I type this, I am looking at boxes and boxes of legal files, office supplies, filing devices, etc. that are going to somehow fit in my new "home office." For the time being, we're just shoving some other furniture out of the way so that I have some space, rather than leaving my computer and files perpetually at the dining table, which drives my husband nuts. It has begun to drive me nuts as well because I can never find what I am looking for! Eventually, we plan to wall off half of what is now our TV room to create an office space. This house desperately needs more storage and a bigger utility room, so that is likely what the rest of the TV room will be converted into...pantry, laundry, storage cupboards. We will then just put our TV-- which we seldom use-- in the living room. Husband is jazzed over the concept of a wall-mounted flat screen in the living room...we'll see what happens.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy 2010. I can't put my finger on why I think this year is going to be great, but I just have that feeling. xx

First haircut!

Sweet baby girl born with a ton of hair

Hair is getting a little long...

Little Miss was born with a ton of hair and continued to grow that hair to great lengths. Unfortunately, she also decided to rub a little bald spot on the back of her head. The result left something to be desired in the world of baby style. (A baby mullet.) So, yesterday, after a long internal debate, I whipped out the hair scissors and clippers, put sweet girl in her Bumbo seat in front of the bathroom mirror and trimmed her little 'do. (Yes, I saved a bunch of the hair in a Ziplock bag.) She was fairly patient, but I was extra, extra careful because she has the ability to lunge and lurch at any given moment. Here are the before and after shots:

BEFORE

Ye olde bald spot and mullet tail. Oh dear.

Hey, that baby is sitting up! (Woohoo!) And has a long comb over!
(Uh oh.)

AFTER

Haven't had a chance yet to get a good back of the head shot, but what an improvement!

And it is light, fluffy and back to curling again, which I LOVE.

Bittersweet December

Baby girl with her paternal grandmother in Butte, MT.

So far December has been a mix of wonderful experiences to build memories on and a some sad moments we won't soon forget. We wrapped up November with a fantastic trip to Butte, Montana, to visit the paternal homestead. We stalled until the last minute in deciding whether to make the drive, but the weather was clear, the baby was mostly quiet, and it was better than we could have anticipated. Baby girl got to spend several days with her paternal grandparents and made her first trip to Montana. (Maternal grandparents got a visit in September.) So baby girl is off and running as a road tripper! Thanksgiving was a quiet affair, and we had a lovely time. Unfortunately, while away, we learned that my grandmother is ailing. And this time it looks like the last of her days. She decided that she did not want any further procedures to alleviate complications she was experiencing due to congestive heart failure. Grandma is 90 years old and has lived a long, engaged, full life...so circumstances could be worse in relaying this news. But it is difficult to lose a loved one, no matter how reasonable the circumstances. I am particularly close to Grandma, so it is very difficult to know she is quietly slipping from us in a town so many miles away.

Ada working on a spoon during breakfast. Grandma knitted her a little Santa hat.

So I have pulled out the many Christmas decorations that my grandmother has made or passed on to me over the years. I have begun baking Christmas goodies in her tradition. I'm remembering all of the years of singing Christmas carols out of her little handmade carol books. I want my little darling girl to experience, from the beginning, the warmth that these little details bring to the season. She is fortunate to have grandparents, like I did, that want her to feel special and loved every day of the year.

A very little baby girl with her maternal grandparents.

Busy November!

November has just flown by. National Adoption Day (November 21) was celebrated here in Yakima County on November 12. There were 14 foster-to-adopt children adopted at Juvenile Court in front of Comm. Inouye, who is generally assigned to the hardest part of that process -- watching suffering families work to rehabilitate their parenting skills or, worse, watching parents deliberately ignore the State's mandates for services and go off the grid, leaving their children in limbo. He got to see the wonderful end product to some tough cases. Mostly, we finalize adoptions downtown at the Superior Court, so he doesn't get to see the good part. This was a great chance for him to realize that he does important work. At any rate, that is what I have been doing since the early part of November -- rushing around to get adoption packets together and filed with the court. It was a great success! For a really nice article on one of my clients, see here: http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/11/11/11-12-09-adoption

Baby girl had her 4 month shots this week. She was actually two days short of 5 months, so we were a bit late! This time the actual process was much better. I did not look her in the eye when the shots were administered, so was able to just scoop her up and comfort her without that look of confusion in her eye as to why I was so cruel. She looked at the nurse that way, but not me! Yes! The post-visit situation has been less easy. Little miss had a bit of a fever and has been a cranky pants for several days. She has been sleeping and napping well though, which will hopefully help her to bounce back soon. I miss those little smiles and giggles.

Her measurements are all fairly average. She is still right around the 50th percentile for height and weight, with a slightly smaller than average head size. Small, but mighty, this baby girl can flip over from back to tummy and is trying to figure out how to roll back over. We're playing a new game that involves her practicing sitting up and standing, and she can't get enough of it. It is the only game that has gotten me a smile in the past few days.

My sweet girl is actually 5 months old today. Here are a few "almost 5 months old" pictures from the past week or so. Note the Oregon Duck onesie from her Duck loving Grandpa!

Waiting, waiting

Baby girl NEVER takes a long morning nap. And by never, I mean...never! We've been working on enjoying a morning nap for weeks now, but she just seems to enjoy snoozing for half an hour, then waking up to enjoy the rest of what the morning has to offer. Today, when I actually have agreed to be somewhere post-naptime, she is taking a glorious, long siesta. Isn't that the way it seems to always go? My workload has actually picked up quite a bit this week, so naptime is a precious commodity for getting a few things done. I soothed, shushed, rocked, snuggled and loved that baby to bits in the hope that she would settle in for some long naps all week long. However, no matter the time of day, little Miss decided she preferred being awake to asleep and that was that. So, here comes the day when I am counting on her little mini-nap and (insert sigh and motherly head shake here), alas, the nap goes on and on. I'm actually pretty tempted to run around the house being careless with my noisemaking. Flush the toilet a few times, move some furniture around, talk on the phone in my not-so-quiet voice...anything that I normally do with care while I hope that she stays asleep for those few extra precious minutes. The time she spends asleep is not only essential for my ability to accomplish little tasks, but it is so, so good for her little growing brain and body. After a good nap, she is just the smilingest, happiest thing. So I guess we will be late to our meeting, but we will be in a good mood!

The week in review.

Not sure about everyone else, but my Gmail account was acting up this week. Its issues seem to have affected my blogger account as well, so this week's posts are a little late. As you can see below, baby girl was a bumble bee for Halloween. We went to a few select neighbors to show her off in her cute little costume. She really hates head wear, so the first time she was dressed in the bee costume there were some little fits of dissatisfaction. By Halloween evening, she was more accepting and seemed to think of it as an all-weather suit as we walked the neighborhood, rather than a torture device. It was fun to think of future Halloweens and future costumes. Our neighborhood is sorely lacking in little ones, according to the old-timers. In the early 60s, our block was a new development teeming with the children of young professionals. Now, 40 years later, those young professionals are the anchors of the block, setting the standard with their intensive gardening and fertilizing schedules, waiting patiently for their gaggle of grandchildren to come in their costumes. They sure enjoy seeing our baby girl out on a walk or dressed in festive holiday wear.

I just snapped a quick photo of my sweet pea on our way out the door this week. We were on our way to Costco to purchase many more things than we actually needed. She finally fits into this cute OshKosh sweatshirt. You can't really see it, but it is the perfect shade of turquoise to set off her pretty blue eyes. (And it color coordinates with her binky, a fashion plus.) Her great grandma gave her this tiger stuffed animal, and she loves it. It goes with us a lot. Can you see why all of the grandmothers in Costco had to stop and coo at her?

In other news, the bassinet has been refilled! No, I'm not pregnant.

Mrs. C has decided that the bassinet was really meant for her all along.

Trick or Treat

Can you say cat?

Today was a milestone in the baby/kitty relationship. Our feisty feline, known affectionately as Missus Chickens, was enjoying some time with mama and baby on the bed. She likes to join us because I sing songs and have my head close to the comforter, which is enticing and requires a certain amount of head rubbing on my shoulder. I have become accustomed to the cat following the baby and I from room to room and observing us with the occasional interaction. Of course, when we first came home from the hospital, I worried that the cat would take an unnatural interest in the baby and end up sleeping on her or scratching her or a million other dangerous or inconvenient things that cats do when they are displaced in the family hierarchy. Mrs. C has not succumbed to any evil thoughts she may be having, which is a huge relief. In fact, the baby seems to bring out her nurturing side. Those who have met Mrs. C may balk at this revelation -- this cat is generally a giant brat to extended family. However, if I am upset or need a friend, inevitably Mrs. C senses it and comes for some love to comfort me. She seems to do the same when it comes to the baby. The baby inspires interest, some purring and the occasional rabbit-kick roustabout with baby's stuffed animals. But so far, NO bad behavior. Whew.

Today, as we were engaging in our singing, sounds and soothing routine, the cat was especially friendly. She was rubbing unusually close to the baby's newly grabby hands. Lo and behold, a surprise to them both when baby girl's grip found the scruff of Mrs. C's neck! Mrs. C did not even flinch. She was quickly released and ended up laying down next to us and enjoying more of our singing interactions. I was able to get a photo of some further touching. They even held hands for a while. What a lovely beginning to this friendship!


We then decided to play a little before naptime. Baby girl received this colorful jumper from maternal grandma and grandpa. She doesn't quite fit in it, but with some blankets stuffed around her middle and some books under the foot surface, she can make some early use of it during play time. It really got her interest today. Of course, we all look forward to the time when she can make use of natural materials for play...wooden blocks, pull toys, cloth dolls, etc. However, it is sure convenient to have some plastic at this age for the bright colors and easy clean up.