When Drew picked up Rachel from day care today, he said she was totally uninterested in his presence. In fact, he had to say, "Rachel! Rachel!" before she looked up from the pile of toys, saw him and smiled.
Contrast that with the infants section, where she'd usually be on one of the ladies' laps when I walked in. Her whole face would light up, as if she couldn't wait to leave.
Drew also had no problems dropping her off today -- she just dived right into the toys and didn't give him a second glance. This is probably a good precursor to her first day at school, when she likely will let go of our hands and run into the center of the crowd without looking back, while Drew and I sob quietly as we walk back home.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Rachel's latest stats
We took The Little Girl in for her 9-month-old checkup today, even though she is, technically, 9 1/2 months. No shots, but she still screamed her head off when the doctor scooped earwax out of her hear and listened to her heart with a stethoscope. Totally normal stranger anxiety, Dr. Rappaport said. He was very impressed with her weight and appearance.
She is:
29 inches long (90th percentile)
18 1/2 pounds (50th percentile)
Her head circumference is in the 50th percentile, which Dr. Rappaport assures me has absolutely nothing to do with whether she'll get into an Ivy League college or not.
She also has an ear infection, which we are treating with penicillin. That may be why she doesn't always respond when we call her by name. (Actually, I thought it was because she was ignoring us since she tends to be very involved with what she's doing at any one time). Good thing Dr. Rappaport thought to check her ears. He will also give her a hearing test after the infection clears up, just to make sure she doesn't have any hearing issues.
I have and will be working crazy hours this week, so Drew has spent more time with Rachel than I have lately. He noted three things:
--she is starting to pull up, using the living-room table
--she can stand alone, unassisted except for leaning against something, for several seconds
--we really, really need to baby-proof the house. So, all of you who have given us lovely small gifts over the years that we've displayed on tables and bookcases -- please forgive us when you visit and don't see them. I plan to pack them away until she is, oh, 17 or so.
Just kidding. I think.
She is:
29 inches long (90th percentile)
18 1/2 pounds (50th percentile)
Her head circumference is in the 50th percentile, which Dr. Rappaport assures me has absolutely nothing to do with whether she'll get into an Ivy League college or not.
She also has an ear infection, which we are treating with penicillin. That may be why she doesn't always respond when we call her by name. (Actually, I thought it was because she was ignoring us since she tends to be very involved with what she's doing at any one time). Good thing Dr. Rappaport thought to check her ears. He will also give her a hearing test after the infection clears up, just to make sure she doesn't have any hearing issues.
I have and will be working crazy hours this week, so Drew has spent more time with Rachel than I have lately. He noted three things:
--she is starting to pull up, using the living-room table
--she can stand alone, unassisted except for leaning against something, for several seconds
--we really, really need to baby-proof the house. So, all of you who have given us lovely small gifts over the years that we've displayed on tables and bookcases -- please forgive us when you visit and don't see them. I plan to pack them away until she is, oh, 17 or so.
Just kidding. I think.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Rachel's clapping!
I went for a walk today with a friend of mine who has a 7-month-old. She said her daughter claps her hands together, which Rachel does not. So, naturally, I got worried. I came home and when Rachel was in her high chair, I clapped my hands together, then clapped hers together. She repeated it right after me, which was a huge relief.
The effort to make her eat finger foods continues. When I told Drew I was concerned that she still won't actually swallow things like cheese and cracker bits he said, "Don't go looking for things to worry about." Obviously, he still hasn't realized that I'm a Jewish mother, even after nearly 25 years of knowing me.
She was an unusually delightful dinner companion tonight. She kept waving her right arm around in the air, as if she was trying to say hello, or goodbye, or just waiting for a high-five. So, Drew and I gave her high-fives throughout dinner. She thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world. And so, because we love hearing her laugh, we lightly slapped her palm again and again and again.
Yes, our brains are beginning to turn to Swiss cheese.
On a separate front: She loves dropping things from her high chair: Bits of food, toys, her pacifier. So Drew has re-named her, from Countess von Spitzenburgen (for the copious amounts of spit-up that have dwindled to only occasionally) to: Princess von Droppenstein.
Come to think of it, our brains HAVE turned to Swiss cheese.
The effort to make her eat finger foods continues. When I told Drew I was concerned that she still won't actually swallow things like cheese and cracker bits he said, "Don't go looking for things to worry about." Obviously, he still hasn't realized that I'm a Jewish mother, even after nearly 25 years of knowing me.
She was an unusually delightful dinner companion tonight. She kept waving her right arm around in the air, as if she was trying to say hello, or goodbye, or just waiting for a high-five. So, Drew and I gave her high-fives throughout dinner. She thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world. And so, because we love hearing her laugh, we lightly slapped her palm again and again and again.
Yes, our brains are beginning to turn to Swiss cheese.
On a separate front: She loves dropping things from her high chair: Bits of food, toys, her pacifier. So Drew has re-named her, from Countess von Spitzenburgen (for the copious amounts of spit-up that have dwindled to only occasionally) to: Princess von Droppenstein.
Come to think of it, our brains HAVE turned to Swiss cheese.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Dinner Date
...not for Drew and me -- are you kidding? Do you actually think we go out alone anymore? HAHAHAHAHA.
However, we had a lovely evening with our friends Carrie and Klaus and their adorable daughters Ani, 4, and Elsa, 2. They live five blocks away from us and walked over. Carrie and Klaus were the perfect parents, lugging a bunch of toys to keep their kids amused while I finished up dinner (roast chicken, potatoes, salad, chocolate-chip cake -- I go for easy meals these days, alas) and Drew held Rachel, who has become very fussy when we're not paying attention to her.
Rachel really took to the older girls. Drew says that she seems to like being around older kids, which explains why she does so well in the mobiles section at daycare. Carrie kept remarking what a pretty baby she is and so smart; when Carrie tried to hide a ball under one of Rachel's cups that she loves banging together, Rachel found the ball, even after Carrie mixed up the cup with some others. Drew also said this morning, as he was reading to Rachel, that she has a very intelligent face, as if she was trying hard to understand what he was saying. She LOVES the alphabet book that Grandpa Oliver and Grandma Sylvie gave her; each letter reprensents an animal, and each animal has a fuzzy or furry or scaly surface that Rachel can touch.
Carrie also noticed that Rachel crawls a lot like Ani did as a baby. Which is reassuring, because seeing Rachel stick out her left leg, plant her foot and move forward is a little weird. It's not the kind of crawl I expected to see. And Ani is walking and running like a normal child, so I guess Rachel will, too.
It's odd and a bit unsettling that everyone else, including my husband, seems to notice Rachel's progress except me. ("That's because you're waiting for her to be smart enough to get into Princeton," my snarky husband says). I think that's because I see her every day. Or maybe my senses are becoming dull with age. One day I'll wake up and she'll be walking and talking, and I won't know how she got from here to there.
However, we had a lovely evening with our friends Carrie and Klaus and their adorable daughters Ani, 4, and Elsa, 2. They live five blocks away from us and walked over. Carrie and Klaus were the perfect parents, lugging a bunch of toys to keep their kids amused while I finished up dinner (roast chicken, potatoes, salad, chocolate-chip cake -- I go for easy meals these days, alas) and Drew held Rachel, who has become very fussy when we're not paying attention to her.
Rachel really took to the older girls. Drew says that she seems to like being around older kids, which explains why she does so well in the mobiles section at daycare. Carrie kept remarking what a pretty baby she is and so smart; when Carrie tried to hide a ball under one of Rachel's cups that she loves banging together, Rachel found the ball, even after Carrie mixed up the cup with some others. Drew also said this morning, as he was reading to Rachel, that she has a very intelligent face, as if she was trying hard to understand what he was saying. She LOVES the alphabet book that Grandpa Oliver and Grandma Sylvie gave her; each letter reprensents an animal, and each animal has a fuzzy or furry or scaly surface that Rachel can touch.
Carrie also noticed that Rachel crawls a lot like Ani did as a baby. Which is reassuring, because seeing Rachel stick out her left leg, plant her foot and move forward is a little weird. It's not the kind of crawl I expected to see. And Ani is walking and running like a normal child, so I guess Rachel will, too.
It's odd and a bit unsettling that everyone else, including my husband, seems to notice Rachel's progress except me. ("That's because you're waiting for her to be smart enough to get into Princeton," my snarky husband says). I think that's because I see her every day. Or maybe my senses are becoming dull with age. One day I'll wake up and she'll be walking and talking, and I won't know how she got from here to there.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Last day as an "infant" in daycare
...well, not really. But Monday, Rachel makes the big move to mobiles! This means a more regular feeding schedule (breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, cooked by the staff), finger foods (which she has demonstrated no interest in but hopefully will take to, once she sees the other kids) and more complicated toys. It also means she'll be around kids who walk, albeit hesitantly. We hope they don't squash her.
And, finally, it means she'll probably be walking soon, which means the end of (relative) peace and quiet in our home: Baby gates, watching her every minute, babyproofing every corner, etc. Oh, well, I'm hoping it also means I'll be able to take her to daycare on the bus, which will save me the cost of parking downtown.
We recently had an appraiser in our house, who noticed the big pile of toys in the living room. "How many kids do you have?" he asked. "Just one," Drew answered. The guy paused and said, "that's a lot of toys for one kid." That got us thinking that it may be time to retire the pull toys we've hung from the playmat -- the toys she used to bat at, then started grabbing, and now has lost interest in. Perhaps we will finally fold up the playmat and let her just crawl around on the rug.
The toy situation is my fault, I'm afraid -- I am constantly looking for good, gently used educational toys to stimulate her brain and excite her imagination. I look at it as a hedge against the day when she becomes a teenager and decides that everything is BORRRINGGG.....especially her parents.
And, finally, it means she'll probably be walking soon, which means the end of (relative) peace and quiet in our home: Baby gates, watching her every minute, babyproofing every corner, etc. Oh, well, I'm hoping it also means I'll be able to take her to daycare on the bus, which will save me the cost of parking downtown.
We recently had an appraiser in our house, who noticed the big pile of toys in the living room. "How many kids do you have?" he asked. "Just one," Drew answered. The guy paused and said, "that's a lot of toys for one kid." That got us thinking that it may be time to retire the pull toys we've hung from the playmat -- the toys she used to bat at, then started grabbing, and now has lost interest in. Perhaps we will finally fold up the playmat and let her just crawl around on the rug.
The toy situation is my fault, I'm afraid -- I am constantly looking for good, gently used educational toys to stimulate her brain and excite her imagination. I look at it as a hedge against the day when she becomes a teenager and decides that everything is BORRRINGGG.....especially her parents.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Sickness in my house
Rachel and I have conjunctivitis, which we really hope won't develop into pinkeye. I am wearing glasses today and no eye makeup, so as not to encourage the infection to spread any further.
I am also fighting a hideously nasty cold that has me coughing up endless tissues full of flem and has left me completely exhausted. I am at work, however, because I don't want to take sick days unless I absolutely, positively need to. I'm saving them all for Rachel.
Plus, my work schedule is being switched to Tuesday-Saturday. As is my chorus rehearsal schedule to a day unknown at this time.
I really, really want this week to end.
I am also fighting a hideously nasty cold that has me coughing up endless tissues full of flem and has left me completely exhausted. I am at work, however, because I don't want to take sick days unless I absolutely, positively need to. I'm saving them all for Rachel.
Plus, my work schedule is being switched to Tuesday-Saturday. As is my chorus rehearsal schedule to a day unknown at this time.
I really, really want this week to end.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Sweet baby
Rachel has developed a sweet trait in the last week or so: She crawls straight to mommy and daddy's laps! (Of course, when she gets there she just stops. It's almost as if she doesn't know what she wants to do next).
I took her to the park recently, set her down on a blanket and attempted to doze beside her. But she wouldn't let mommy sleep -- oh, no! She kept trying to climb Mt. Mommy: crawling up to my chest and trying to pull herself up. It was so cute, I just started laughing. Which got her giggling, too...
I've been very sick with a powerful cold these last two days, and ended up sleeping in our guest bedroom in the basement. When I staggered upstairs into the kitchen this morning, she broke into a big smile and started babbling away. And I SWEAR I heard a "Mommy!" at one point. I'm not crazy, Drew said he heard it too.
I took her to the park recently, set her down on a blanket and attempted to doze beside her. But she wouldn't let mommy sleep -- oh, no! She kept trying to climb Mt. Mommy: crawling up to my chest and trying to pull herself up. It was so cute, I just started laughing. Which got her giggling, too...
I've been very sick with a powerful cold these last two days, and ended up sleeping in our guest bedroom in the basement. When I staggered upstairs into the kitchen this morning, she broke into a big smile and started babbling away. And I SWEAR I heard a "Mommy!" at one point. I'm not crazy, Drew said he heard it too.
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