Another New Taste

Granny made chocolate pudding the other day, and Smacky had some. Yum! She loved it.









She also loved how the pudding gave her a temporary mustache and soul patch. Oooo la la!

Hey, Is That Thing Edible?

What fascination we have with my little black cellphone!

Smacky actually forgot about her french fry for a moment as I snapped this shot last Saturday.

Checking the Engine

I bought Smacky a wheeled xylophone before she was born, anticipating (hoping for) musical talent to rear its delightful head.

So far, all I've observed has been some slobbery chewing of the mallet, but Gary says that she did some wacking earlier today. I wonder when she'll be ready for an overturned pot and a wooden spoon?

Maybe I should wait to introduce that noisy toy. Like, forever.

No Ketchup, Thanks

My phone miraculously gave me a soft lens today to emotionalize Baby's First French Fry.

Isn't she cunning?

You wouldn't think so if you'd heard her scream when I denied her her golden, crinklecut heart's desire. Yikes! She's got some lungs on 'er!

Space Monkey Coffee

Here are Smacky and Gary, lounging around at coffee on Saturday. It was a chilly day but the walk was nice, the sun was warming, and the coffee was gooooood. Plus bunny came, too, which seems now like a treat since I can't find her anywhere.

Where is bunny! (And why do I choose such boring names for stuffed animals!)

Baby Layabout

Smacky and I woke up at 4:44 this morning (don't ask me why, it was her idea) and Gary, being the baby-sleeping wizard that he is, got her to sleep from 7:30 to ... last I heard, she's still asleep, and it's 9:30.

I think she has a little bit of food stuck to her forehead, but no matter. She doesn't have any appointments or dates today so she can stay in her jammies and not wash her face until later. Lucky baby!

Wheee!

Smacky just loves to play rough. She laughs when I throw her in the air, she enjoys being held upside down and she finds it fun to be tossed onto a bed of fluffy feather blankets or pillows.

Here she is being held up by Gary, probably getting ready to do some supergirl-style flying.

January 21, 2008- A Fateful Day

Tomorrow is the anniversary of us finding out about Aurora's existence.

Four negative pregnancy tests later, I thought I was in the clear until a test run by my doctor told us otherwise.

This ultrasound was taken in March when she was 20 weeks old. See her curved head and snub nose? Who knew she'd become so adorably screamy. Eeee!

A Giant Bath

Here is a photo taken for my friend Arwen and her baby Hazle. Smacky and I just happened to be loitering in the background, testing the temperature of the pool and checking out the other babies.

Swim Swim Swi- Zzzzzzz

Here is another photo of smacky relaxing after swimming yesterday. Nothing like a bottle of milk to fill the hungry post-swimming tummy.

Work Those Arms! Work Those Legs!

Smacky's swimming lesson was a little better today. She gulped the poolwater a few times when she forgot to hold her head up, she learned how to hold on to the edge of the pool, and she floated on a noodle.

It was soooo exhausting that she fell asleep on the counter in the locker room afterwards.

Jumping Jumping Jumping

Smacky's new favorite toy is a pink bunny that one of my coworkers gave to me. She loves it when we flap the bunny's ears in her face, she adores sucking on the bunny's ears, and she her mouth opens wide to gum bunny's nose. Bunny even shared her cereal last week.

Here they are together with Granny in Smacky's jumperoo, a favorite place for all of them. One of Smacky's legs powers the jumping, the other just sort of twitches. She likes it so much that she jumps in my lap hours later.

Childcare Woes

We're pretty lucky with our childcare situation. My mom watches Smacky on Mondays and Fridays and Gary works from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays while watchingAurora and Arlo.

Smacky goes to Kindercare on Wednesdays, sharing care with 8 other babies between two caregivers. I've been pretty happy with Kindercare, and so has Smacky, until their "reservation" fees started.

When Aurora misses a day, they charge us half-price, even if they're closed. I suppose it makes sense since they still have to staff the center, but we missed three days last month and $160 for no services is a little steep.

So we're looking for a new provider. Maybe I'm crazy and everyone operates this way. I guess we'll see! Does anyone have any suggestions or criticisms to help our search?

UPDATE: We found out yesterday that Gary can't work at home any longer, so we need to find a facility that will care for Smacky three days a week. We're looking into the Y- any opinions on that?

Another Day in Paradise

We brought Smacky's jumperoo home this week from Granny's and she had a fun time jumping while Gary worked this afternoon.



And what's that in the background? Could it really be SUNLIGHT?
Also, if the expression in this photo says TEETHING to you, you're right. I came home last night to an exhausted Gary and a screaming Smacky. Thank god for infant tylenol!

Cookieface

I realize after posting this that it isn't the most flattering picture of Smacky, with her stuffing a cookie into her mouth with both hands.

They are thin, crisp gingersnaps that turn soft when they meet your mouth. Perfect for a drooly baby!

Here she is after gumming her cookie. Most of it ended up on her chin but she looks determined to finish it.

Maybe she's just trying to keep it from her bug, who's staring covetously. (see right of photo) Naughty bug! stay away from Smacky's cookie.

Spaghetti and Swimming

Today was a day of fun firsts!

Granny got me and Smacky a present of swimming lessons at the Mt Scott Community Center near our house. They remodeled it a few years ago and it went from a plain rectangular outdoor pool to 2 indoor pools and a hottub. It's fancy now! There were about 10 other parents in our class who sang to, propelled, accidentally dunked and then comforted their babies along with me.

(This is a stock photo from their website, not a photo from today.)

I didn't think ahead last summer in order to get a suit, so Smacky wore an old onesie instead of a real swimsuit like some of the other babies. All in all it seemed like it was at least tolerable for her. She didn't seem uncomfortable but she was definitely working on getting her swimming legs. Hopefully Gary or Granny can come sometime and get some photos of Smacky in the pool.


In other news, I ground up some
spaghetti and sauce today and Smacky had her first spaghetti. I was surprised that she liked the strong flavor but she gobbled it down, extra garlic and all. Too bad I didn't think to grind up some garlic bread.

Arlo helped me peel, cut, and grind apples for baby applesauce for a different meal. What a good helper!

Precious Sleep

Smacky and I haven't been sleeping well lately. Not well at all.

Whether due to the fact that she's back in daycare, or that she's adjusting to life after having two weeks at home, or just that I'm slower on the draw with the nighttime bottle, she has been up in the night fussing QUITE A BIT lately.


I made an executive decision to use disposable diapers in bed since I was changing her cloth diapers 3-5 times each night. This way I don't change her at all and she only eats when she wakes. I thought we would get more sleep this way but it feels like less!

Yesterday, her first day at Kindercare in a month, there were new/different caretakers, new screaming babies and screamingly bright fluorescent lights. Hence, Smacky only took three ten-minute naps.

Gary somehow enticed her into sleeping for two hours today, but apparently she's still sleepy, as evidenced by this photograph. She loves to rub her eyes when she's about to fall asleep, sometimes keeping herself awake with those tiny fingers.

Growth, Finally

Aurora has a new office- a highchair given to us from David York's son Joseph. (Thank you, David!)

The graphic on the chair looks like a little hat, doesn't it?

Now she can see OVER the table instead of rooting around at our feet like a common swine. Way to move up in the world, baby!