We were witness today to LS's first use of tools! In this case it was her own thumb. But still.
She was fussing enough for us to go get her up from her nap, so dad went in to fetch her. As he approached, LS had her head turned in the opposite direction, with the thumb of her left hand securely in her mouth and engaged in "soothing mode".
Of course, dad ran out and got mom to see this impressive show of genius first hand. When we got back, LS still had the tool engaged. She pulled the thumb out and did fuss some more momentarily. But then, as we watched, she brought her hand back up to her face and put her thumb to work once more.
Bravo!
As this happened, dad thought he could faintly hear that music made famous in 2001: A Space Odyssey in the background.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Things
It seems like LS has started to really notice individual things in her environment more these last few days. Sometimes while holding her, she'll look around the room, scanning her head from one side to the other - like she's trying to figure it all out.
Might it not be coincidence that she also has been taking shorter naps starting around the same time? We wonder if she is just so excited to be awake and seeing things that she's too excited to get to sleep. It kind of seems that way anyway.
At any rate, she's off to a good start tonight (fingers crossed).
She gave us a sneak preview last week after she had her 2-month vaccinations. That night she had a period where she slept for 8 1/2 hours straight. The next couple of nights weren't too bad either.
And then she just decided that daytime was for fussing. Babies are irrational enough as it is - but an overtired baby? Wow.
Might it not be coincidence that she also has been taking shorter naps starting around the same time? We wonder if she is just so excited to be awake and seeing things that she's too excited to get to sleep. It kind of seems that way anyway.
At any rate, she's off to a good start tonight (fingers crossed).
She gave us a sneak preview last week after she had her 2-month vaccinations. That night she had a period where she slept for 8 1/2 hours straight. The next couple of nights weren't too bad either.
And then she just decided that daytime was for fussing. Babies are irrational enough as it is - but an overtired baby? Wow.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Busy Day
A busy week - on the blog and otherwise.
LS had two important trips today. The first was to go to the Post Office and apply for her official government identification (also known as "Passport"). Now hopefully she won't end up on the terrorist watch list. I wonder - will she be forced to take off her shoes when going through the security check at the airport?
For a good laugh, check out the review comments on this toy.
The picture had to be turned in with the paperwork, but when we get the official document maybe we'll post her mug shot.
As if that excitement wasn't enough, it was also the big trip to the Doctor's office. The one with vaccination shots involved. She handled it pretty well all in all. Actually she seemed more upset during the first part where the Doctor checked her ears and mouth and all that. Three quick shots - man the Doctor was quick with those needles. She was needled and band-aided before she knew what hit her. Of course being nursed while that was happening didn't hurt the cause...
And she kinda looked tough sitting there afterward with a band-aid on each thigh.
On to the vital stats! The official weigh-in was 10 lbs 5.6 oz.
That's:
* 93% gain from birth weight
* 113% gain from lowest weight (day after birth)
* 1.2 oz/day since day after birth
This is definitely slower than those chicken-leg-a-day gains of more than half her life ago. But still a little over half a pound a week. Two quarter-pounders a week. Not bad!
She was also measured length-wise, and hit the 22 inch mark (22% growth since birth). Given 113% weight gain and 22% length gain, you might imagine she is getting a little chubbier than she used to be. Here's a picture that definitely shows how right you'd be! Those cheeks!
LS had two important trips today. The first was to go to the Post Office and apply for her official government identification (also known as "Passport"). Now hopefully she won't end up on the terrorist watch list. I wonder - will she be forced to take off her shoes when going through the security check at the airport?
For a good laugh, check out the review comments on this toy.
The picture had to be turned in with the paperwork, but when we get the official document maybe we'll post her mug shot.
As if that excitement wasn't enough, it was also the big trip to the Doctor's office. The one with vaccination shots involved. She handled it pretty well all in all. Actually she seemed more upset during the first part where the Doctor checked her ears and mouth and all that. Three quick shots - man the Doctor was quick with those needles. She was needled and band-aided before she knew what hit her. Of course being nursed while that was happening didn't hurt the cause...
And she kinda looked tough sitting there afterward with a band-aid on each thigh.
On to the vital stats! The official weigh-in was 10 lbs 5.6 oz.
That's:
* 93% gain from birth weight
* 113% gain from lowest weight (day after birth)
* 1.2 oz/day since day after birth
This is definitely slower than those chicken-leg-a-day gains of more than half her life ago. But still a little over half a pound a week. Two quarter-pounders a week. Not bad!
She was also measured length-wise, and hit the 22 inch mark (22% growth since birth). Given 113% weight gain and 22% length gain, you might imagine she is getting a little chubbier than she used to be. Here's a picture that definitely shows how right you'd be! Those cheeks!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Froggy IV
Another photo shoot with Froggy today. Apparently LS had some secret that she had to share with Froggy, but we fear we'll never know what it is. Try as we might, Froggy ain't talkin' about it.
Afterward, they laid back and had a good laugh about it.
Monday, January 12, 2009
New Nips
"Ok, I'm heading out to get some new nipples. I'll be back in a little bit," mom yells over her shoulder, rushing out the door.
If you're reading this looking back later in the 21st century, this isn't referring to actually going out to get some lab-grown nipples for moms. We're a little more primitive back here.
Anyway, let me explain.
There was a couple day stretch there where LS was giving dad a pretty hard time.
In an effort to give mom a good stretch of sleep, not only did dad stay up until the 3am feeding for LS as usual, but also gave her a bottle at that time to give mom an extra break.
But I suppose LS didn't feel like she had signed up for that part of the bargain, and would much prefer the real thing. At any rate, the bottle was ready and waiting at 2am when LS started to "pip" some in her sleep - a usual precursor to full-on waking up.
As it turned out, she waited until 4am to wake up and proclaim herself famished. No worries, the bottle was ready.
If you count the feeding as successful based merely on the ingestion of a sufficient amount of milk, then it was. But you have to ignore all the screaming that happened during the hour-long feeding as well.
There were a couple 3 minute bursts of pure nursing in there, but the balance of it was spent crying and screaming. And not only dad - LS too.
LS would scream while trying to refuse the bottle. Shaking here head, sticking her tongue out, squinching here eyes - the whole deal. After finally drinking some, she then made good fun of screaming while being burped. Good times. Good times.
Of course, once the eating is done - then comes the changing. Never a particular fan of this activity, LS went for the trifecta and screamed through that as well. As I remember, she did finally calm down after the changing was done. And, luckily, she did go back to sleep pretty well. Tired out from all the screaming no doubt.
Later the next morning, it seemed LS was pretty contented after a feeding natural-style, so mom offered LS up to dad to cuddle with in bed before getting up. It lasted about 3 minutes, and then LS was back to screaming.
It seems dad had picked up a midas touch with LS (except replacing tears for gold). In this case, LS was then off to the down-stairs and playing for about an hour - so the fact was that she just wasn't up to sleeping at that particular time.
Mom had a theory that maybe LS was just growing not to like the nipples that we have for the bottles. She thought maybe an alternative type would do the trick.
Which brings us up to the beginning of this story.
It turned out to be a good hypothesis. With a change of nipples for the bottle, a feeding with LS this morning went much more smoothly.
Whew!
In other news - LS has a checkup with the Doctor later this week - so we'll be getting another long-awaited official set of stats. Recent unofficial weighings point to 10+ lbs, but we eagerly await the official stats.
If you're reading this looking back later in the 21st century, this isn't referring to actually going out to get some lab-grown nipples for moms. We're a little more primitive back here.
Anyway, let me explain.
There was a couple day stretch there where LS was giving dad a pretty hard time.
In an effort to give mom a good stretch of sleep, not only did dad stay up until the 3am feeding for LS as usual, but also gave her a bottle at that time to give mom an extra break.
But I suppose LS didn't feel like she had signed up for that part of the bargain, and would much prefer the real thing. At any rate, the bottle was ready and waiting at 2am when LS started to "pip" some in her sleep - a usual precursor to full-on waking up.
As it turned out, she waited until 4am to wake up and proclaim herself famished. No worries, the bottle was ready.
If you count the feeding as successful based merely on the ingestion of a sufficient amount of milk, then it was. But you have to ignore all the screaming that happened during the hour-long feeding as well.
There were a couple 3 minute bursts of pure nursing in there, but the balance of it was spent crying and screaming. And not only dad - LS too.
LS would scream while trying to refuse the bottle. Shaking here head, sticking her tongue out, squinching here eyes - the whole deal. After finally drinking some, she then made good fun of screaming while being burped. Good times. Good times.
Of course, once the eating is done - then comes the changing. Never a particular fan of this activity, LS went for the trifecta and screamed through that as well. As I remember, she did finally calm down after the changing was done. And, luckily, she did go back to sleep pretty well. Tired out from all the screaming no doubt.
Later the next morning, it seemed LS was pretty contented after a feeding natural-style, so mom offered LS up to dad to cuddle with in bed before getting up. It lasted about 3 minutes, and then LS was back to screaming.
It seems dad had picked up a midas touch with LS (except replacing tears for gold). In this case, LS was then off to the down-stairs and playing for about an hour - so the fact was that she just wasn't up to sleeping at that particular time.
Mom had a theory that maybe LS was just growing not to like the nipples that we have for the bottles. She thought maybe an alternative type would do the trick.
Which brings us up to the beginning of this story.
It turned out to be a good hypothesis. With a change of nipples for the bottle, a feeding with LS this morning went much more smoothly.
Whew!
In other news - LS has a checkup with the Doctor later this week - so we'll be getting another long-awaited official set of stats. Recent unofficial weighings point to 10+ lbs, but we eagerly await the official stats.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Line of Fire
It turns out that the human sneeze is not at all proportional to body weight. On evidence, it would appear that the sneeze of an infant is not that diminished from the sneeze of an adult. The intestines, however, would appear to be significantly shorter for an infant. We've learned the following changing rules:
1. Always keep the baby pointed down-range.
2. Watch carefully for approaching sneezes.
3. In mid-diaper change, keep legs pointed down.
We've had a few, um - incidents, that really shouldn't go by without comment.
Early changings were done by the bathroom sink, to facilitate good hygiene. The first shots fired fell harmlessly into the sink. Convenient even. As it turns out, warning shots.
The first all-out incident happened while Dad did a changing. LS was probably about a month old. Half her life ago at this point. If you haven't seen our bathroom, we have a shower with glass wall to the right of the sink. The early changings were happening with LS laying on the left-side sink counter. Aimed, as it turns out, toward the glass shower wall.
It all happens so fast, it's like a blur. One second the baby is laying there. Then the sound of a sneeze. Then, a splatter pattern down field. Something like the insides of a ripe yellow tomato slowly sliding down glass.
Life can be a game of inches. A slight twitch of the hips to the left may have taken out the toothbrushes and mouthwash. A lean to the right and it strafes across the front shower door and slams the floor scale. Luckily, no one was hurt - and there are certainly less convenient surfaces to clean than glass.
There have been a couple more recent incidents. The recent changings have been on a changing table, still in the bathroom. A few days ago, a major shot fired to the threshold of the bathroom door. An impressive show of range.
Just this morning, a shot slammed the front cabinet of the bathroom sink, where - just moments before - dad had been standing washing his hands. A game of inches indeed.
We know now that guns and babies have this in common: you want to be careful that they don't go off while you're cleaning them.
1. Always keep the baby pointed down-range.
2. Watch carefully for approaching sneezes.
3. In mid-diaper change, keep legs pointed down.
We've had a few, um - incidents, that really shouldn't go by without comment.
Early changings were done by the bathroom sink, to facilitate good hygiene. The first shots fired fell harmlessly into the sink. Convenient even. As it turns out, warning shots.
The first all-out incident happened while Dad did a changing. LS was probably about a month old. Half her life ago at this point. If you haven't seen our bathroom, we have a shower with glass wall to the right of the sink. The early changings were happening with LS laying on the left-side sink counter. Aimed, as it turns out, toward the glass shower wall.
It all happens so fast, it's like a blur. One second the baby is laying there. Then the sound of a sneeze. Then, a splatter pattern down field. Something like the insides of a ripe yellow tomato slowly sliding down glass.
Life can be a game of inches. A slight twitch of the hips to the left may have taken out the toothbrushes and mouthwash. A lean to the right and it strafes across the front shower door and slams the floor scale. Luckily, no one was hurt - and there are certainly less convenient surfaces to clean than glass.
There have been a couple more recent incidents. The recent changings have been on a changing table, still in the bathroom. A few days ago, a major shot fired to the threshold of the bathroom door. An impressive show of range.
Just this morning, a shot slammed the front cabinet of the bathroom sink, where - just moments before - dad had been standing washing his hands. A game of inches indeed.
We know now that guns and babies have this in common: you want to be careful that they don't go off while you're cleaning them.
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