Need your opinions

Hi all,


Kate got VERY excited yesterday. Elizabeth was on the bed showing off some of her gymnastic skills like smiling and sticking out her tongue when she suddenly rolled over. Then she did it again. Quickly, Kate got the camera and started recording it. But we're not sure it's a roll over. In our opinion, she just simply pushed up with her pinned arm, causing her big ol' hips to roll into a depression on the bed where she was previously lying. At that point, a full flop was inevitable.


Here's the video:


Your thoughts?


Also, here's a cute video of Elizabeth smiling.



And here's me in battle rattle I just got for my upcoming one-week trip to Iraq.

Schwarzwald: The schwarziest!

For our first trip of the year we decided to go hiking through the Black Forest (Schwarzwald). For weeks we had our fingers crossed, beseeching the snow gods for a good solid two or three inches to fall in the forest before we got there. There’s nothing like seeing all those pine trees mummified in a beautiful white petticoat. In the winter, we thought, the Schwarzwald could be the most beautiful place in Germany.

And a few days before our trip, it snowed. Hurray! With our bags packed and our fingers uncramped, we headed down for what Pecos thought was the best trip ever. Seriously. Total bestness.

Why? Pecos explains:

(1) We go many snowy hikes. Mom and dad kick snow. I bite snow!!
(2) We balcony covered with snow. I bite anytime I want!!
(3) Baby not focus of weekend. Pecos and snow focus!
(4) I bite snow!!!!!
OK, yes, perhaps it did snow and we did go on hikes. Here’s Elizabeth and I standing in the whiteness by the border between Baden and Würtemburg, the two German states that combined to form the current state of Baden-Würtemburg. Pecos is off to the side catching falling snow flakes and biting them to bits.
Actually, although the snow was wonderful, for the most part it rained while we were there. It also sleeted and freezing rained. To be honest, it was a pretty rotten weekend, save for a few brief moments of snowy bliss. Pecos didn’t know that, of course, because he didn’t go out when it wasn’t snowing. We like to keep our children in the dark about certain things…which is why we’ll eventually teach Elizabeth that her mom and I have superpowers and that there’s no such thing as sugar.

On the last day, the sky hadn't yet decided if it wanted to snow or rain consistently that day, so we decided to go on a drive instead of a hike. That would give us great views and keep us out of the bad weather. What a brilliant idea, I thought. Well, although we did get a few beautiful views up in the highest parts of the Schwarzwald, where it was still snowing, for the most part it was just us driving on very little roads in the rain with a baby in the back that could wake up at any point. Thankfully, she didn't decide to wake up until we got to Baden-Baden, so we stopped there and walked around for the better part of an hour.
It was nice. I won't say beautiful or uber European. But nice. I wouldn't mind going back.

Did you see all those people gathered in DC to celebrate Elizabeth's three-month birthday?

Yesterday, I was so consumed with celebrating Elizabeth's quarter-year birthday that I kept forgetting it was the inauguration. At least I'm not deluded enough to think all those people gathered in DC were there to celebrate my darling baby's three-month birthday. She might be the center of my world, but I know she's not that impressive to everyone else . . . except for you, dear readers (aka grandparents) so here's an Elizabeth update.
Elizabeth now has really good head control. She spends time on her tummy every day, and doesn't mind it anywhere near as much as she used to. In the video below, she is enjoying her googly-eyed audience and will contentedly watch them (and sometimes talk to them) for up to 10 minutes at a time.

Due to Elizabeth's strong neck muscles, I decided to let her try out facing forward in our baby wrap. She certainly enjoyed riding around like a big girl, even if my hair did make me look (according to Justin) like George Washington.
Elizabeth has become an excellent night sleeper, and will sleep one six to eight hour stretch each night. She only wakes up once or twice in an eleven hour period, which makes mama very happy. She also goes down without a fuss, which gives Justin and me some time to hang out each night. We're still working on naps, but the past two days she has been napping well, so I have hope that trend will continue.
All in all, she's doing wonderfully, and so are the rest of us. I love having a little family of four.

Happy third month, Elizabeth

Happy, healthy, and balding

Elizabeth is now two months and four weeks old, and she is doing wonderfully. We took Elizabeth to the pediatrician this week, and she was deemed healthy. She now weighs about 11 pounds 8 ounces and measures at 23 inches long. This puts her at the 50th percentile for both height and weight. Considering she was in the 10th percentile for weight at birth (at 6 pounds 6 ounces), I'm pretty proud of this growth. Elizabeth's been hitting all of her milestones and smiles, coos, and lifts her head very high. She even got a kick out of me playing peak-a-boo with her today. I can't wait for her first laugh.

I, happily, seem to have gotten her on a routine that results in longer naps and an easier time at bedtime. We're only a few days into this new routine, but I'm hopeful that her sleeping will keep getting better.

Also, Elizabeth is officially balding. I noticed a bald patch on the back of her head that made me feel like a bad momma whose baby spends too much time on her back and not enough in my arms, but then I noticed she was thinning up top and on the sides too, so I stopped feeling guilty. I'm curious to see what her hair looks like when it grows back, though I do mourn the loss of her sweet little fuzzy head.

I started working again this week, and it's really nice to be back at it. I spend naps, nights, and nursing times working. I managed to put in 18 hours this week, and it was relatively painless. Though I love staying home with Elizabeth, I've determined I'm not a good housewife (I don't much like cleaning), so it's nice to have a reason not to clean while Elizabeth is sleeping. For me, I think this work/mothering balance is pretty ideal. Overall, I'm happy, very happy.

Elizabear

Thanks for the great gift, Randy and Gillian!

Baby’s first Christmas – and New Year’s

A last-minute proclamation by still-president George W. Bush giving all federal employees the day off Dec. 26 allowed Kate, Elizabeth, Pecos, and I to make the Christmas visit to Jay and Linda’s an extra, extra long one, stretching from 23-28 December. It also allowed us to gain some extra, extra poundage as Linda – whose culinary conventions involve doubling the serving size and then cooking for twice as many people – made WAY too much food, playing host to us, her kids (Brandon and Breanna), a family friend (Paul), a coworker (Bill), and four dogs.

It was Elizabeth's first Christmas, but she seemed like an old pro, playing with new toys, trying on new clothes, and posing for festive pictures.Elizabeth is still cute, Kate insists I add to this blog. As if the photos didn’t clearly illustrate that.

Oh, and Elizabeth is still definitely spoiled, as evidenced by this photo, with four of us (Dusty dog, included) all wanting to be close to her.
One NOT cute thing she did was institute a Boxing Day policy of throwing up on her daddy (aw…), peeing on her daddy (hey!), and then finally having explosive diarrhea on her daddy (WOH!) – all within the course of five minutes. It was the Trifecta of Unpleasantness. And afterward, daddy needed a drink.
During this holiday season, Elizabeth also discovered she had control over her hands and, thus, mastered the art of batting, gripping, and bashing things. Although adorable at first, I can see how this talent can quickly lead to troublesome things. We have a cute video on that that we'll post soon.
Our New Year’s Eve celebration was kind of tame this year. We were going to attend a “Parents with Young Children” soiree, but that ended up being canceled when the hosts (mom, baby, and dad) developed a contagious cough/cold. So, instead, our fête involved watching half of Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow (bad dvd), giggling uncontrollably at the unashamedly terrified Pecos – who kept creeping under furniture and trembling every time fireworks would explode – and having Elizabeth sleep for almost seven hours straight. Sorry, Pecos, but if the popping sound of fireworks is the white noise Elizabeth needs to coast into a deep sleep, then I just found a new hobby.
Oh, we also took some cute shots of her bathing!