Three beautiful people

The three most beautiful girls in the world:

Looking back at 2007

Karen posted this meme, and I agree that it sounds like fun. And it's easy, so it buys me time to sort through photos and get around to posting about our trip to Ottawa.

All I have to do is post the first sentence from the first post of each month of 2007. Here is goes:

January: "Why a new blog? Don't you already have one from PQ training?", you might be asking.

February: Yes, this week I'll post a picture.

March: I bought the first pregnancy related item(s) today.

April: I arrived yesterday evening in Ottawa.

May: On Friday, Graeme felt Baby Texan move!

June: I have a whole bunch of photos from our trip out west last weekend, and blogger has a limit on how many pictures you can put in a post, so I'm going to divide them up a bit.

July: Wow, time is passing quickly now.

August: I finally downloaded the Telluride photos from the camera.

September: Some pictures from the last few days:

October: We had our six week check up today.

November: Yesterday we flew to Toronto, with two flight legs to get here.

December: A couple of weeks ago, Heather came over for an afternoon of tea and laundry.

What this little glimpse back tells me is that I have terribly boring opening sentences. A resolution, perhaps?

Not home yet

There will be a big post sometime in the next few days with lots of pictures, but we're not actually home yet even though we were supposed to get home last night. We're still in the Washington-Dulles airport, where we've been since 6:30 last night. We did leave for a few short hours last night to go to a hotel, but we've been back here since 5:30 this morning. If we knew that we'd still be here, waiting for the 5:45 pm flight, we would have stayed at the hotel, slept in and had a leisurely breakfast. Instead, we came back and continued what will be known as Travel Clusterfuck 2007.

Details to follow.

Affirmations from my tea bag

"I am beautiful.
I am bountiful.
I am blissful."

Festive Saturday

Today we headed down to South Austin for a festive event - Kate's first introduction to Santa. We didn't go to a mall santa, instead we went to Moxie, and artist's co-op. Kate had just falled asleep right before we got there, yet she didn't seem to mind Santa:



We did a few other errands, and then headed to Artz Rib House, a bbq place we hadn't tried yet. Kate didn't think much of the beef ribs:


We did though. Including Westley, who got a bone when we got home.

The Beginning of the End

Rolling over is probably only a few weeks away:

Friday!

It's Friday! It's the last day of lectures at UT, so Graeme is pretty excited to be done lecturing for about 6 weeks. We should have a celebration this evening, although I have nothing planned yet.

It's been a good week. We got lots done, and Kate has been great. She's getting more and more fun, just like everyone said would happen around the three month mark.




I gave a way a large portion of the baking, and the rest will disappear on Saturday night when Graeme's research group comes over for the christmas/holiday party. We're going to make fajitas, one of our specialties.


We're hoping to have the party outside, which means raking tomorrow. I have a good excuse for not getting it done (other than taking care of a baby). If I had raked them earlier in the week, we just would have had to do it again, since leaves are still falling.


Pictures make this count as a real blog post, right? Hope so, because I crossed that off the list.
- Rake the yards (need leaf bags)
- Walk with Mamas both Tuesday and Thursday
- Baking. Lots of it. I bought 4 lbs of butter. I hope that's enough.
- Hang Christmas lights
- Vacuum
- Knitting (Two gifts to finish)
- Red tent meal delivery on Thursday
- Write a real blog post

Update

I know you've been waiting with bated breath to find out how my to do list is coming. Here it is:

- Rake the yards (need leaf bags)
- Walk with Mamas both Tuesday and Thursday
- Baking. Lots of it. I bought 4 lbs of butter. I hope that's enough.
- Hang Christmas lights
- Vacuum
- Knitting (Two gifts to finish)
- Red tent meal delivery on Thursday

The Tradeoff

Kate slept ten hours straight last night, from 9 til 7. I still woke up around 5 when she was grunting and farting, but went back to sleep. But after that long sleep, she was done sleeping for awhile and talked and played until about 8:45. She is now sleeping in her swing. Usually if she wakes up between 5 and 6, she nurses and then goes back to sleep until about 9. Which means I go back to sleep until about 9. But now I'm up and have been since 7. I've had breakfast and tea, so I can't go back to sleep now. I love sleeping in, but I can't really complain about her sleeping 10 hours straight.

I guess I'll have to start going to bed earlier, which means giving up some knitting time. Sigh.

Pretty productive day

We've had a pretty productive day around here. After the morning walk that included a stop at the post office, Kate and I headed out to do a bunch of short errands around town. Errands in the morning work great because she usually has a long nap about two hours after waking up for the day. We came home for lunch, did some cleaning up and hung a few christmas decorations before heading to the grocery store with the stroller and dog to get all the needed stuff for the holiday baking. Somewhere in there I also washed the bedding and a load of diapers and did some vacuuming. Phew.

I have a list of things I want to accomplish this week. Here's what's on my list:
- Rake the yards (need leaf bags)
- Walk with Mamas both Tuesday and Thursday
- Baking. Lots of it. I bought 4 lbs of butter. I hope that's enough.
- Hang Christmas lights
- Vacuum
- Knitting (Two gifts to finish)
- Red tent meal delivery on Thursday

I think I'm forgetting something.

If I had a current day planner I wouldn't have to subject you to the list. Alas, the one I have starts in January, so you are subject to my list this week. Boring blogging, I know. Maybe i should add 'Write decent blog posts' to the list.

Kate and Nora

A couple of weeks ago, Heather came over for an afternoon of tea and laundry. She brought her beautiful daughter Nora:



The girls are a bit young to play, but we did put them down on the playmat to see what they would think of each other. I'm not sure they really noticed:


Until Nora started to cry. Kate was not impressed.


It's great having Heather in the neighbourhood, to know that someone else is doing the same thing each day as I am. It's nice to have tea once a week and commiserate. I'll be sad when they move to Maine.

Success #2

I got my Texas driver's licence today. Well, I have the temporary one and the real one will come in 2 or 3 weeks. It took two tries to get it. This morning I loaded up Kate in the stroller, we dropped Westley off at Chui's (his best friend) house and headed downtown. It was about an hour's walk to the office. There was only a very brief wait and then I laid out all my carefully checked documents. The lady told me I was missing one - proof of vehicle registration. I had proof of insurance, but not registration. I needed both. I told the woman that I had walked and that I didn't have my car with me, so I couldn't just go grab the registration. She was insistent that I needed it. Sigh.

We walked the hour back home (with a stop on campus to see Graeme) had lunch and then loaded into the car and headed back down there. Once again, no wait and this time I had everything in order. At least it's finally done. Only three years late, but done.

Success #1

Today Kate and I went to the Social Security office to get a replacement card for me. I need one because my New Mexico driver's licence is going to expire in less than a month and you need proof of a SSN to get a Texas licence. So, off we went armed with tales of three hour waits. Knowing we could be there awhile, I was ready. I had water and snacks for me, toys, clothes and diapers for Kate, and my knitting. Kate nursed when we got there, then was fussy for awhile until she fell asleep. It was then that the miraculous occurred. She stayed asleep when I transferred her to her car seat. I was able to knit while she slept. Knitting, it turns out, is the perfect activity for waiting. It's better than reading, since there was lots of noise and conversations around which would be a distraction from reading. The wait ended up being 1.5 hours, which if you're ready for 3, isn't so bad.

Next: driver's licence office.

Something new every day

Kate seems to be changing daily. As if overnight she figures some stuff out. A few days ago it seemed like she might be starting to reach for things. Suddenly today she was playing with a toy that I put in her lap. Moving it around, putting it in her mouth and definitely reaching for it when I put it back after it fell.

She has been in an amazing mood today. Cooing, smiling, watching. She is focusing and has started the soul penetrating stare that I remember Emily having. It's amazing.

Truely.

Weekend photos

I guess they aren't really weekend photos, since they are from Friday. Thursday was American Thanksgiving. I really love thanksgiving, and it is even more of a family holiday here than in Canada. It seems like everyone loves Turkey Day, and there is a definitely spirit of celebration in the air. People are generous and happy, or so it seems. We went to Howard and Laura Sue's house and celebrated with a great meal and football. We watch football once a year, on Thanksgiving. Well, twice actually, because we watch on both Thursday and Friday. On Friday we went to Sheryl and Jonathan's to watch the UT game and eat leftovers. Yum.

And we still have two more days of the weekend. Yay!

Three months

Sorry, no pictures yet. I haven't taken any photos for a few days, and Kate is currently sleeping. Tomorrow is her second thanksgiving and we'll be sure to get some pictures.

Everyone said that around three months it starts to get more fun. So far, two days into it, I think I have to agree. It seems as though she is changing and learning new things every day. She is more vocal, cooing and making new noises and she's smiling more and more. She loves to kick around with out a diaper every time we change her and kissing her bare belly will earn a smile every time.

She is enjoying her play mat and spends some time there every morning. Mornings are definitely her happy time. After a good night of sleep, she is in a good mood and all smiles. She continues to get chubbier, if that's at all possible. She's been wearing 3-6 month clothes for a month already, and a few of those are starting to get too small. I'm guessing she'll be taller than me by the time she's 9. Anyone want to place bets?

She is sleeping through the night, from about 9:30 or 10 (better than midnight!) until about 6 or 7. She nurses and then goes back to sleep for 2 or 3 hours. I know this great sleeping pattern will go in the shitter as soon as teething starts, but right now I love it.

Kate is a very sweet, cuddly baby who is a total mummy's girl. She has a definite preference for me, which is frustrating for both Graeme and me. I know she'll have daddy phases, but it would be nice if she were happy or would calm down with him.

So, photos tomorrow after the turkey gorging.

Westley update

When Westley hurt his back six weeks ago, I never posted an update that he was fine and people were concerned that he was still suffering. Rest assured, he's totally fine. Both his back, which healed up in just a few days, and his foot which he is still licking quite a bit but isn't slowing him down at all. We took him to the dog park on Sunday (Only short walks! No romping or running! On leash!) and he ran and swam and played. He did have a slight limp by the end, but otherwise you never would have guessed that there was anything wrong.

Good Baboo. Now stay healthy and uninjured for awhile, k?

We love fat babies

More proof of the pudge:



I took a knitting class a month or so ago. Here is my first hat, and first project with knitting in the round:

Kate and family

I'm a bit behind on posting some photos of Kate with various family members. This is the first installment.

Kate and her Grandpa, from the visit to Toronto:


Kate and her Aunt Jill. Unfortunately, it's not the most flattering picture of Jill. Jill had a method of swinging Kate that would calm her nearly instantly. Although, even just a cuddle and walking around with Jill seemed to work. Jill has a bit of baby whisperer in her, apparently.


Kate and her Uncle Jonathan. It took until the second last day of their visit for Jonathan to pick her up. She really liked him.


And finally, Kate and me, from the wedding weekend. Marlene informed me that people want to see pictures of the two of us, not just Kate. I think you mostly want to see Kate, but whatever. Here we are.

Westley update

Westley is feeling much better this morning. He was even begging to go for a walk, although he ended up moving pretty slow by the end. He's limping a bit, but I think that is because of the bandages. They will come off this evening and we'll see how the foot looks under there. The side effects of the sedation have ended, thank god. An incessantly whining dog at the same time as a crying baby is enough to drive anyone to tears. Or neglect. You choose.

Poor Baboo, Part 2

It's been a rough 6 weeks for Westley. He recovered very quickly from his sprained back and was doing really great. Then on Saturday, he tore a claw so that it was seperated down it's length, exposing the quick. It bled quite a bit, and was very sore. I took him to the vet today where they sedated him and then removed it. It will slowly grow back and should be fine.

He's in quite a bit of pain now, wandering the house and whining, and not quite recovered from the drugs. He won't lay down though, and is pacing the house. Poor Baboo.

12 weeks

Kate has had a bit of a growth spurt this past week. Observe:

Serious pudge. She's also gotten longer though, which is equally amazing to me. We don't have a scale to find out how much she weighs, but trust me that when you are walking around with her for any length of time that your arms feel like they are going to drop off.

She's getting smiley, which we totally love. And stronger - she holds her head up very well and kicks and wiggles when she's happy. We pulled out the play mat, and she happily lays there and looks at the dangling toys. It's nice, because it give me a few minutes to clean up the kitchen or make some lunch. Or, gasp, shower.

More wedding photos

From Scott's camera.

The wedding

On Sunday we attended a wonderful wedding. Rebecca and I have been friends for 15 years. She lives in Boston, but we chat nearly every day, so that even though I don't see her often, we are always caught up when we do. Rebecca is amazing at staying in touch with people, which was evident by the number of friends that flew from all over the continent, and even from Europe, to be at her wedding.


And it was a super fun wedding. And Rebecca and Jeff were glowingly happy. I love seeing my friends happy.

Of course, most of the photos I took were of my own daughter. It was hard to get photos of the festivities since the flash got lost in the big room. But it was really lovely, and I'm sure lots of other people got good photos. I got good photos of Kate though.

Home safely

We made it home yesterday evening with only minimal meltdowns. Kate, again, did great on the long flight but was fussy for the short hop from Dallas. Graeme had the touch though and calmed her down when she wouldn't even take the boob. We had a super tight connection in Dallas, so our bags didn't make the transfer but they were delivered sometime overnight. The airline loaned us a carseat to come home.

I'll be downloading photos from the camera this afternoon. Expect the usual adorable photos of Kate.

Travel report

Yesterday we flew to Toronto, with two flight legs to get here. We had a quick hop to Dallas before the longer flight to Toronto. Kate was amazing on both flights. On the descent to Dallas she cried a bit as the pressure changed. I tried to nurse her, but she didn't want any. Oh, and we had a total diaper blowout that required a full waredrobe change. It should have required a waredrobe change for me as well, but I hadn't packed a clean pair of pants. That's all I'll say about that.

The flight to Toronto was even better. She only squaked a few times, and we managed the diaper situation much better (the problem on the Dallas flight is that it's so short that you don't get to leave your seat). She slept through the descent without a peep. She then stayed asleep through getting the rental car, being loaded into her carseat and driving to the CN tower to meet some friends who will also be at the wedding today.

And after all of that, she slept for nearly 9 hours straight last night. I expected with the new sleeping arrangments that we woudl have a rough night. She proved me totally wrong.

Now I'm hoping she'll be an angel through the wedding today. I brought my camera but I think I forgot the card reader (I can only manage keeping track of so much, and the amount of stuff we had to bring for four days was crazy. A baby needs a lot of shit. And produces a lot of it too.) Anyway, photos will follow when we get home.

Happy Hallowe'en!

Ten weeks

Kate turned ten weeks old yesterday. She's been sleeping pretty well - through the night every few days, although she's far from consistent. She's continued to be very clingy and cuddley during the day. She wakes up if you put her down even if she seems to be in a deep sleep. She is the same way in the mornings. After her morning feeding (usually 7-ish) she is still sleepy, but won't go back to sleep in her crib. We have a nice routine instead of her coming to our bed and snuggling with me for an hour or so until I'm ready to get up. I don't sleep terribly well, but the snuggling time is worth it.


Dad and Donna have been here this week and have been a help with Kate as well as around the house. Kate has them both totally charmed, of course.

Happy Birthday, Erika!

Happy birthday, Auntie Erika!

Passport success (tentatively)

We're heading to Toronto next weekend for Rebecca's wedding, which means with the new rules that Kate needs a passport. It is all a bit tricky since it takes 6 or so weeks to get a birth certificate, and then it takes 3 weeks to get a passport and that is if you expedite it. In other words, if she'd been born on her due date, it wouldn't have worked at all. There is a faster option than the expedite process. It involves going to regional passport office, but you have to be travelling within 14 days. There is an office in Houston - about a 3 hour drive away.

Today we headed for Houston. We had a 1 pm appointment, so I made sure we left in plenty of time in case we had to stop for nursing breaks. I was really expecting the worst - crying the whole way, a long wait at the passport office, parking nightmares, etc. etc. Instead, it was super great. Dad and Donna went with me, which helped a huge amount. We had little traffic, Kate slept the whole way, we had time for lunch before the appointment, there was hardly any wait at all, and then she slept most of the way home again. We could have waited a couple of hours and got the passport today, but I decided not to push our luck and instead they are overnighting it. We'll have it on Monday.

Phew. It seems that the american government can be efficient occasionally. But, apparently you have to be a citizen to have them do anything reasonable. Alas.

Congratulations to Heather and Matt!

Heather gave birth to Nora yesterday. Everyone is healthy and happy. Photos will appear on her blog sometime after they come home tomorrow. Welcome to the world, Nora!

Doctor visit

Kate had her two month check up and first round of immunizations today. Graeme and I had a bet about her chubbiness. I said she would be at least 95th percentile for weight. He thought that was too high, and guessed 85%. I rock. Our little chubster is 97th percentile for weight, 90 for height and 25 for head size. Yup, she's a Weeble.

The doctor said she's doing great. Her neck muscles are unbalanced - one side being tight. She does tend to tip to one side (look at pictures on the blog. She tends to lean left.). We were given some stretches to do with her to strenghthen it, and she needs more tummy time. She isn't a huge fan of tummy time, but we'll work on doing it more.

She is pretty fussy now, probably from the shots. They gave us some Children's Tylenol, so if it's bad tonight we can give her some to ease her aches. Poor wee one.

Still, I think the whole thing was harder on me than on her.

Two months

Dear Kate,
Two months! It's been a big month of changes for you, but I guess that's to be expected when it's 50% of your life so far. You have been sleeping well this past week, from midnight until the just before sun up for three nights. It started after we started having you sleep in your crib, and I'm not sure if they are related or not, but whatever the reason, I love it.


You're getting stronger, and can hold your head up quite well. We're still waiting for the smiles though. You do smile at us sometimes, but we aren't positive that you're smiling at us, or if you're smiling because you just had a great fart. And you're a champion farter.


You still have your witching hour every night from around 9 until midnight. You are often inconsolable, and we pace around the house with you, often resorting to walks around the neighbourhood.


You continue to get bigger - big for your age, although we won't have that confirmed until your check up this coming week. But you're certainly bigger than other babies we see out around town, even those quite a bit older than you. But we looooove fat babies.


You are the light of our lives. We can still just watch you sleep, and you've totally charmed your Aunt Erika who has been visiting. You are a very cute baby, and we're not at all biased.