New Duds

Aurora's fabulous babysitter Sarah got some cute duds for Aurora at a kids' consignment sale this weekend.

Isn't Smacky happy? A toy in each hand an a new green shirt?

The green contrasts nicely with her red peach fuzz, doesn't it? Or maybe I'm just imagining that I can see hair up there.

Tiny Baby

Someone might find this embarrassing when she's 13, but here is a photo of Aurora when she first came home from the hospital- 5 pounds, 7 ounces of tiny smacking baby, her diaper falling off her skinny bottom and her eyes barely able to peer out at us.

Baby Faces

It's funny how babies love other babies, isn't it?

Here is Smacky (right) reading a library book regarding the topic of Babies. Baby faces, to be exact. The page that Aurora's enjoying is the "Sad" page. It's better than the "Angry" page, in which babies are actually punching out their parents with the strength of their anger.

Bedtime? Hell no! (See left photo in book)

Delicious Wood Pulp

Aurora loves two things: putting everything she can into her mouth, and tearing paper. Well, she loves milk and Mithra, too, but those aren't the topic today.

My dad loves to tell me about how I would greet him as a toddler with his brand new magazines, the covers ALWAYS torn off.

As I opened my new Sunset magazine the other day, a tourist magazine fell out, and quicker than I could say Smackerella, Aurora had torn the cover off. I hope it made my dad feel better when I told him that my spawn is doing the same thing I did to him.

Here she is enjoying a little nosh on a couple of circulars that I gave her. We'll call them appetizers, since she's obviously waiting for a meal with her bib on, sitting in her high chair, and hungry as a bear. Or as a beaver.

Yo!

Despite having a cross-eyed "tough guy" look (or because of it), Smacky fits right in with the homies at our house.

They were listening to NWA that day, I think.

First, Unbutton. Then, Button Up.

I dressed Smacky in a dress the other day for the first time in AGES. It was a little overalls-dress sort of thing made out of denim. As I pulled the ensemble over her head I was relieved that it was so easy- no hollering when it got caught on her head, no worrying that she might get stuck forever and have to live her life with a shirt/skirt stuck on her head (because really, why else do they shriek like there's a fire when a shirt gets caught on their heads?!)

Except I had forgotten to unbutton the side buttons, so her arms were pinned to her sides as I kept pulling the skirt down to get it on.

Then I laughed and laughed, and ran to get the camera. At the point of the photo, she's bored with sitting there, pinned and cute, and is trying to reach the tube of desitin from under the skirt.

Who Loves Vacations?

We had a fun weekend at the Oregon Coast, Gary and Aurora and I.

Gary and I spent a lot of the time playing with Aurora on the bed- rolling from side to side and almost off the edge a few times (once I caught her with her head and shoulders off, happily sliding towards the floor) bouncing, dancing, etc. I felt comfortable leaving her in the middle of the king-sized bed when she was occupied with a toy (or two), like in this picture. She doesn't tend to wander when she's busy.

Her activity cube and be-crowned duck were an almost endless source of amusement, as Gary and I ate a meal or talked at the table nearby.

We also had a very persistent seagull who loitered for quite a while outside our window. And right next to the Do NOT feed the ANIMALS! sign. Silly bird. Couldn't he read?

I See You!

It has taken me a long time to figure out how to spend time with Aurora that's not working time. We've spent a lot of time together doing household tasks, sleeping, grocery shopping, and driving to and from her caretakers.

But when we got time to breathe, I would look at her and think, uh oh, what now?

When she was younger, I really had no idea what to do. We just stared at each other, cuddled, and I rubbed her head and sang to her. Now that she's older, I make her stuffed animals talk, she plays with the sock monkey feet on my footie pajamas, and we play baby's all time favorite, peek-a-boo.

Of course it took me a long time to figure this out, too, but she loves it when I cover her with the blanket and say, "Where's Smacky? Where's Smacky?"

She flaps her arms to uncover herself and peek out, and then gives me a big grin when I find her. Sometimes this is what I see.

Ready for Sun

Here is Aurora at Sarah's, her new MWF caretaker, posing in her new strawberry sundress.

She's at the stage where EVERYthing goes in her mouth, and we even catch her chewing on the bottom of her bottles.

Silly strawberry baby.

Daylight Savings- Wheeee!

I never realized that daylight savings messes with everyone when you have a baby.

Last night at the new 7:30 (which was actually 6:30), Aurora was behaving as if she'd just chugged a triple mocha with extra whip. I laid her down for bed and she cried, and when I picked her up to burp her (which I confess I frequently forget to do), her eyes darted from one part of the room to another and she smiled at me, knowing that now we could play some more.

Normally I don't get her up after putting her to bed but she was so obviously NOT tired, I laughed and turned the light back on.

Here she is, having a happy afternoon a few weeks ago, lounging on the bed. I wonder what she'll look like when she grows some more hair.

Bzzzzz?

Smacky's new caretaker, Sarah, snapped this shot last week. Both Smacky and Demitri, Sarah's funny two-year-old son, had one of these headbands.



I won't show Demitri since I haven't asked for permission, but here is a shot of a very serious Smacky the Bee.

A Different Form of Banana

Remember last summer when I posted a spate of photos of Smacky sleeping?

I realize I'm doing it again, this time with eating.

Here she is, eating a tiny slice of a tiny loaf of banana bread that I made especially for her, without walnuts.

Apparently it was acceptable but nothing to write home about.

A Sad Day

A couple of Fridays ago, Aurora and I were roused from bed by Gary and Arlo, who told us that Gary's older brother Randy had unexpectedly passed away earlier in the evening.

Please keep Gary and his family in your thoughts during this sad time. Randy will be greatly missed.

Frog on a Lilypad

When I'm not too tired and when Smacky is feeling athletic, we make the trek to our swimming class down the street.

On Valentine's Day many babies were absent, probably because their parents had overindulged in too many sugary cupcakes and had to stay home to recover. We, however, had no such problem, having eaten our cupcakes a week earlier, so we all got out of bed and made our way to the community center.

In addition to the rousing renditions of a bunch of songs I've honestly NEVER HEARD OF, this day the babies got to "play" instead of "learning."

This meant that Smacky got to float on a foam frog during class. It also meant no accidentally swallowed water, and no choking. I think the babies were all grateful for that.

Photographs courtesy of our fabulous in-home photographer Gary.