The holidays are coming

A fun thing you can do for the holidays is turn yourself into an elf. Click on the link below and you will see what I mean!
Let's see the elves!
I didn't find this gem on my own. My sister sent it to me, so thanks to my sister Joy!

With the holidays coming we went looking for cute outfits for Lauren and we thought this one was pretty cute.

You cannot see the part that says "Baby's First Christmas" but it does exist. We think she is such a cutie. These outfits are made for Babies R Us and were in limited supply thus they were hard to find. But through diligent and persistent searching by our friend Joy we were able to get one. We will try to schedule a formal picture of her in a Christmas dress sometime soon so we can get our cards out on time.

We have been keeping her busy in her exersaucer which I have included a pic of. She is wearing a hat because it is cold in the morning when she is playing! It is funny to watch her sometimes because you can see her go to each toy and pay special attention to each one.
You have to watch her though because too many toys in a row and she get sensory overload. She gets quite upset :P

catching up?

Wow... how should this go?

So much to say... a really long post? a series of shorter ones?

ok... organize, simplify... react..... that's what has made it possible and enjoyable about dealing and interacting with the daily challenges and changes of our little girl.

There have been so many things that have happened in the last week+... I'll just spew them out individually, and worry about the chronology of them all later...

Of the two big changes.... rice-cereal. It's really only cereal from the standpoint that it's "stuff" that you add milk(boob juice) to, stir it up to consistency and then feed it... This has got to be one of the coolest experiences to date.

but of course... a little backstory..

So somewhere on the innernet, it reads that solid food is supposed to start somewhere in the 6-9month range. For those of you who think that is a really long time out, please remember that most places in the world breast-feed until like 4 or 5 years old or something seemingly insane to us here in the US that have store-bought formula, supplements, and often times place priority on working, shopping for shoes, handbags, purses, and getting rid of their pregnancy weight as quickly as possible, higher than the well-being of their children. --- end rant ---

That being said, I've known since our little girl came out of her warm and happy place that she was expressive... the first expression "the concerned look" to the heart-melting "the pout" that I'm still trying to figure out where she learned. And we all know expressiveness is going to be a endless reactive guage when it comes to having her try new food. Salt and Vinegar chips? Toasted Almond Ice Cream from Fenton's? Wasabi? how long do I have to wait till I get to experience her first taste with her? I know it's a long path to get her up to complex foods and tastes, but not having even started yet is sad.

So for what has probably been the last couple of weeks, if not month, when Bethy and I break our fingers free from the mighty grips of the little girl to eat, we've gotten the feeling that she is staring and watching us eat....... possibly wondering where hers is, or what we are doing and how it tastes.

So this past week we gave it a shot... some bbq chicken with a side of macaroni and cheese.

no really. So during the last dr visit, she recommended we start with the rice flakes. So, we stopped by and got some of the gear... a box of rice-flakes, $1.50 or so, some little spoons, 6 for $2 or something. The "flakes" aren't really flakes so much as they are a white powder, when mixed with some milk looks like jook or oatmeal without the lumps(is that possible?). We made it pretty watery the first time around as we weren't sure how she was going to react or manipulate something that she had to swallow the first time around.....

So the first reaction was one of "huh? what IS this?" she kinda held her mouth open and looked at us like we'd done something wrong, but without the drama. The tongue rolled around a little bit, more like in and out, than around.... some of it came out, and the mouth closed. Now I've never really been good at telling exactly when she swallows, but I know from the empty bottles that she does do it from time to time. This was about the same.... put some in, get some out, wipe up the dribbles, put it back in, get some out, maybe go back to the teacup for some more from time to time. I knew that SOME was going in and staying in, but also that there was a fair amount on the face, and definitely on the bibby. This was an amusing event... it lasted for probably 30 minutes or so before I think she got a bit tired... I do have it on video, so if I can ever get it off, it'll definitely get posted.

The first time, I used a full teaspoon, and that was waaaay more than she ate. She ate an unknown amount, but it was a good first experience.

The second experience was actually with Bethy feeding her, and Grandma holding her, and she was ferocious. I think she knew was it was, and had a little better idea of how to deal with it, and it couldn't come fast enough. It is still unknown the capacity that the little mouth can hold and manipulate to swallow, but the eyes are definitely trying to tackle tablespoon sized portions. I would hold up the spoon, and moth opened. She still doesn't have control over her upper-lip to be able to clean off the top of the spoon without help, but she'll get there. Maybe she's not a big toy-fan yet, but I haven't seen her this eager for anything yet. This time we adjusted the consistency from wattery to thicker, and got a pretty good amount into her before she got tired.

The third experience was in the car yesterday while up in Vacaville waiting to celebrate U Ken's birthday. Apparently the bottle that Grandma was using didn't have a whole lot of milk in it, and the consistency was a bit on the thicker side.... thick enough so you can actually make a mound of it with some definition instead of it all just being goop... Well... this feeding resulted in quite a bit of drama.

Not only did she like it, but we ran out.

So... keep in mind here that these rice-flake-feedings are only supposed to be supplementary. Mom's milk still provides the bulk of nutrition in vitamins, minerals and all that other good stuff along with the hopes and prayers of all you, that have kept our little girl perfectly healthy so far. The rice flakes have some guidelines around them in that they aren't supposed to be a first or last feeding, not supposed to replace a feeding etc. So, when we packed a little bit, we didn't pack that much. But when it ran out, we were alllll sorry. She cried and fussed for the car ride from the outlets over to BJ's. She wanted more, and milky wasn't going to suffice... Luckily for us, the carb-rich rice, coupled with the car ride worked like a charm and she was out like a light.

So I'll have to look at the little booklet that the dr gave us that goes over all the stuff like single grain this, single vegetables and fruits here and see where and how far out the good stuff is really going to be.... and make sure I have the camera handy for the expressions and reactions that will come too. BBQ? Salt and Vinegar? oooooh! I might have to state a rule where if you feed her new stuff, you MUST capture it on camera!!! SOOO MUCH FUN!!!!

That's right I am 4 months old!

Lauren turned 4 months old on Saturday. So she was due for her 4 month check up with the pediatrician. We went on Tuesday Nov. 13 and everything went fine at the doctor appointment even though we waited an hour and a half for the doctor to see her. Dr. Kenney says she looks healthy and she has really strong neck control. Dr. Kenney also got to experience the "I don't like being on my tummy" cries.

She was measured at 15 lbs and 25 inches long. Those measurements put her in the 75th percentile in weight and 75th percentile in height. So it isn't our imagination she is growing!!! It's a big step from her 25 percentile beginnings.

She also had four shots again, DTap, polio, Hib and Pneumoccocal. She cried when she received the shots but after the band aids were put on and I picked her up she stopped crying. She promptly relaxed with my ministrations and she was asleep by the time we got to the car. She of course only took a power nap. She didn't develop a fever from the shots this time. I got my flu shot at the same time and I didn't develop a fever either :).

One thing I have noticed is this funny flip in her hair on both sides of her head. No matter how much I brush it the little curl reappears. In some pictures you can see the little flip on both sides. Hmm I wonder where she gets that from.

She is slowly losing all the hair she was born with and a new fuzz is growing underneath it. Its kind of funny to see all her short hairs everywhere (on her clothes, on the bed, in the crib, on the changing table, etc.) Should I collect it all and save the little hairball as a momento of the hair she was born with?

Unrelated to anything I have been talking about here is a picture of her taking her mid-morning nap.

a quiet house...

Is what I came home to today... I got home early today... just after lunch from work... yes.. lots of work from home.. and it's quiet here.

No big goose... no little girl... just a couple of kitties sleeping in my clothes in the closet.

The last couple of days or so have been hard...no... not in that usual way, that would be too easy, and too complacent of us as parents if it was the same thing over and over.
Lauren has been quite fussy lately, and Bethy and I think it's because she is starting to teeth. At times she'll cry uncontrollably and unconsolably..... to a result of a little bit of frustration and great sadness. The frustration in language barrier in us not being able to pick up or understand the signs that she is trying to tell us :(

Overall she is doing well though... last week or so, Bethy started swaddling her again at night, and she seems to be sleeping much better. A couple days ago Grandpa said that he got her to laugh quite a bit as well....and sure enough, Bethy was holding her, and we got a laugh out of her as well. Another great step!!!!

she is quite a ball of fun... she giggles... she smiles... she is reactive... now I just need to figure out how to teach her how to set and hit left handed ;) (all in time Ken.... all in time)

So since I was home all alone(save a little man and pika) I was poking around some old pictures and thought I'd post them up.

Enjoy!!!

Hats and gorillas

The days go by so fast and I keep saying I will post or try to get Eric to and we seem to never get around to it. Apologies to all who look for the updates. I will try to catch you up of the happenings of the past few days and here are a bunch of pics too!

After having dim sum with the family for Greg's birthday Andi came over for a visit. Here she is feeding our little chubby baby. Of course Andi is tiny.. our baby isn't that big... is she?

Thanks Andi for watching and feeding her for a couple of hours. She looks peaceful here, but she wasn't so peaceful at Uncle Giff's that night she was fussy baby. It was nice to see Tam, Kai and Malia though :)!

On Sunday, we had a bunch of friends over since one of my old roommates from college was in town. Vincy and her knitting prowess is shown here as she knitted a cute little hat and scarf for Lauren. You would have never known it was like 80 degrees outside the house the way that Lauren was sporting the hat and scarf! The temperature this week has cooled down quite a bit so the hat and scarf will be very useful in the near future.


Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday we fall into our little routine. She will fall asleep when I feed her and since I haven't included a pic with her in the boppy in a while here is one.
She doesn't fit in the little curve anymore, but she is still darn cute. We can't believe how big she is getting and so fast. She has her four month appointment next week and we will see what her pediatrician has to say :).

The next pic was at the request of Eric. We always intended to take her pic with our big gorilla stuffed animal when she was born but we never got around to it. Now that she is bigger the effect of the picture isn't quite what I was looking for but it is still a good pic. You can also see little moo moo in her hand as a comparative toy. Thanks for the cute little warm outfit mom, it keeps her nice and toasty.

I used to have this big stuffed animal dog when I was little. Or it felt like it was a large stuffed animal. When I was in my 20s and saw it again it seemed so small compared to my memories. I wonder if Lauren will feel the same way about this gorilla.

A trip to the city...

Lauren and I went to the city on Friday with our friends Joy, Hannah and Sophie. We went to see a singer named Ingrid Michaelson at the Borders in Union Square.

As a preface to this trip I want to say commercials and advertising these days can give exposure to little known artists. Anyone who watches a decent amount of television has seen the Old Navy commercial highlighting their sweaters. The song on that commercial is called "The Way I Am" sung by named Ingrid Michaelson. (If you aren't familiar with the song here is a link: Ingrid Michaelson) She isn't with a label but with the exposure from this song and another one called "Keep Breathing" which appeared on Grey's Anatomy she is now heard nationwide.

It was a treat to go to the city and see Ingird sing. She sounds exactly the same as what you hear in the produced version. She was also very nice in person. We waited around for her to sign our cds. Alas Lauren was hot and tired by the end so she was not a happy camper. Joy got this great pic of Lauren crying and Ingrid making a sad face lol.
Here is a pic of Joy and Sophie at the outing, if you look real hard you can see Ingrid and Allie in the background.

On the way down the elevator Lauren got hungry and she was trying to put the bottle back in her mouth because it fell out. Yes, she is trying really hard but that bottle full of milky is heavy.


Here is a pic of Lauren in her cute little dress that my sister Joy lent me. She is promoting the cd!

The hunny pot and the pumpkin

Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit on Monday and brought Lauren a pumpkin from there garden. It was a nice looking pumpkin so I took a pic of it with Lauren. Yup there she is kicking back with her little pumpkin...

We bought candy to pass out on Halloween but no one came before 6pm. We went out to dinner with Auntie Di and Uncle Clem and of course the grandparents. Apparently kids still trick or treat after dark as our neighbor Joy attested to. She even got to see some of the neighborhood kids in their costumes. By the time we got back from dinner there were no more trick or treaters out. I guess Eric is going to have to eat all that candy.

To celebrate Halloween we put her in her outfit. Here she is with her two pumpkins. Yes, Lauren that pumpkin is as big as you.


The funny thing about this outfit is the yellow honey blob underneath her chin. She kept licking it and 90% of the pictures we took she has her mouth on it. By the time we took the costume off of her it was drenched. Whomever designed this costume must have known little kids would lick/suck on that piece as it is made of a different material than the rest of the costume.

Eric likes this picture of me and Lauren so I am posting it. She is such a funny little girl.